Michael Scott Horton (born May 11, 1964) has been the J. Gresham Machen Professor of

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and

Apologetics Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and ...

Westminster Seminary California Westminster Seminary California is a Reformed tradition, Reformed and Presbyterianism, Presbyterian Christianity, Christian seminary in Escondido, California. It was initially a branch campus of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia un ...

since 1998, Editor-in-Chief of ''Modern Reformation'' (MR) magazine, and President and host of the nationally syndicated radio broadcast, ''The White Horse Inn.'' Both ''Modern Reformation'' magazine and ''The White Horse Inn'' radio broadcast are now entities under the umbrella of White Horse Media, whose offices are located on the campus of

History

Horton was raised in an Arminian

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

church. While in high school, Horton adopted

Calvinistic Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

beliefs as he read through the Bible, specifically the book of Romans. Horton claims he "threw his Bible across the room," as he read through Romans 9 and began to wrestle through the doctrines of election/predestination and the sovereignty of God. He began attending the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology, where he met

James Montgomery Boice James Montgomery Boice (July 7, 1938 – June 15, 2000) was an American Reformed Christian theologian, Bible teacher, author, and speaker known for his writing on the authority of Scripture and the defence of Biblical inerrancy. He was also th ...

R.C. Sproul Robert Charles Sproul ( ; February 13, 1939 – December 14, 2017) was an American Reformed theology, Reformed theologian and ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America. He was the founder and chairman of Ligonier Ministries (named f ...

, and J.I. Packer. Horton received a BA degree at

Biola University Biola University () is a private, nondenominational, evangelical Christian university in La Mirada, California. It was founded in 1908 as the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. It has over 150 programs of study in nine schools offering bachelor's ...

. Since high school, he had always known that he wanted to go to

Westminster Theological Seminary Westminster Theological Seminary is a Protestant theological seminary in the Reformed theological tradition in Glenside, Pennsylvania. It was founded by members of the faculty of Princeton Theological Seminary in 1929 after Princeton chose to ...

in Philadelphia. At the time, Westminster Seminary California was just starting in a small storefront in Escondido but many of the men Horton was reading at the time taught there, and this eventually led to his choice to get his MA there. He learned

Biblical Hebrew Biblical Hebrew (, or , ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanite branch of Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Israel, roughly west of ...

and

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

, and studied under

Meredith Kline Meredith George Kline (December 15, 1922 – April 14, 2007) was an American theologian and Old Testament scholar. He also had degrees in Assyriology and Egyptology. Academic career Kline received his AB from Gordon College, Th.B. and Th.M. ...

. He was impressed by the important concepts put forward by Kline, Robert Strimple, Robert Godfrey, and Dennis Johnson. Horton received his PhD from

Wycliffe Hall, Oxford Wycliffe Hall is a Church of England theological college and a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is named after the Bible translator and reformer John Wycliffe, who was master of Balliol College, Oxf ...

through

Coventry University , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = , type = Public , endowment = £28 million (2015) , budget = £787.5 million , chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford , vice_chancellor = John Latham , students = () , undergr ...

and completed a research fellowship at

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

. He was ordained a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

in the

Reformed Episcopal Church The Reformed Episcopal Church (REC) is an Anglican church of evangelical Episcopalian heritage. It was founded in 1873 in New York City by George David Cummins, a former bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The REC is a founding member ...

. He was the president of Christians United for Reformation (CURE), which later merged to become the

Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is an organization of Christian individuals that believes evangelicals have largely forgotten the foundations of the Christian Gospel and is dedicated to calling on the Protestant churches, especially those ...

(ACE). From 2001 to 2004 Horton served as the president of ACE, but is now no longer affiliated with that organization. He is also an ordained minister in the

United Reformed Churches in North America The United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA) is a theologically conservative federation of Reformed churches founded in 1996. Many churches joined the URCNA after splitting from the Christian Reformed Church in North America denomination. ...

(URCNA), has served at two churches in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

, and was the Associate Pastor at Christ United Reformed Church in Santee, California, a URCNA member church. Horton taught an adult Sunday school class on God, suffering, sanctification, Calvinist theology, and the basics of the

Heidelberg Catechism The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), one of the Three Forms of Unity, is a Protestant confessional document taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Calvinist Christian doctrine. It was published in 1563 in Heidelberg, ...

. This class is available on audio at the church website. He is now a member of the Escondido United Reformed Church. In 1996 ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...

'' included him on their list of "Up & Comers: Fifty evangelical leaders 40 and under."

Personal

Horton lives in Escondido, California, with his wife Lisa and four children.

List of works

Horton has written and edited more than fifteen books, including: * ''The Agony of Deceit: What Some TV Preachers Are Really Teaching'' (1990) * ''Putting Amazing Back Into Grace'' (2011) * ''Beyond Culture Wars: Is America A Mission Field or Battlefield?'' (1994) * ''Where In The World Is The Church: Understanding Culture & Your Role In It'' (1995) * ''Power Religion: The Selling Out of The Evangelical Church'', edited with Charles Colson (1997) * ''Made In America: The Shaping of Modern American Evangelicalism'' (1991) * ''We Believe: Recovering the Essentials of the Apostle's Creed'' (1998) * ''Covenant and Eschatology'' (2002) * ''A Better Way: Rediscovering the Drama of God-Centered Worship'' (2003) * ''The Law of Perfect Freedom'' (2004) * ''Lord and Servant: A Covenant Christology'' (2005) * ''Covenant & Salvation: Union with Christ'' (2007) * ''Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church'' (2012) * ''People and Place: A Covenant Ecclesiology'' (2008; 2009 ''

'' Book Award in Theology/Ethics) * ''Too Good to be True: Finding Hope in a World of Hype'' (2009) * ''God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology'' (2009) * ''The Gospel-Driven Life: Being Good News People in a Bad News World'' (2009) * ''The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way'' (2011) * '' Pilgrim Theology: Core Doctrine for Christian Disciples'' (2011) * ''For Calvinism'', with Maurice England (2011) * ''The Gospel Commission'' (2012) * . * ''Rediscovering the Holy Spirit: God's Perfecting Presence in Creation, Redemption, and Everyday Life'' (2017) * .

References

External links

Westminster Seminary California - Faculty Page

The White Horse Inn
Dr. Horton's radio program
Modern Reformation Magazine

Adult Catechism
Christ United Reformed Church's teachings on Catechism, including some by Dr. Horton
theopedia's entry on Michael S. Horton

Joel Osteen Answers his Critics
(

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...

story. Horton's appearance: from timestamp 7:20 until 8:35)
Christian talk show promotion of his ''Agony of Deceit'' book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horton, Michael Alumni of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford Alumni of Coventry University Living people Editors of Christian publications 1964 births American Calvinist and Reformed theologians 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 21st-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians Westminster Seminary California faculty Biola University alumni Critics of atheism

History

Personal

List of works

See also

References

External links