New Atheists Richard Dawkins marshals his arguments against believing in God by using His Old Testament command to kill the Canaanites:
The Bible story of Joshua’s destruction of Jericho, and the invasion of the Promised Land in general, is morally indistinguishable from Hitler’s invasion of Poland .... The Bible ... it is not the sort of book you should give your children to form their morals .... Joshua’s action was a deed of barbaric genocide.”[1]
Dawkins goes on to call God a moral monster: “What makes my jaw drop is that people today should base their lives on such an appalling role model as Yahweh—and even worse, that they should bossily try to force the same evil monster (whether fact or fiction) on the rest of us.”[2]
Read moreJared Wilson was the founder of Anthem of Hope, a non-profit dedicated to mental health and suicide prevention. Jared was a pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California. He was also an author who wrote the books Love Is Oxygen: How God Can Give You Life and Change Your World and Wondrous Pursuit. He was known for being an outspoken advocate for mental health and talked publicly about his own struggle with depression. Jared Wilson ended his life on September 9, 2019. He tweeted the following at 5:01 PM on September 9: “Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure suicidal thoughts. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure depression. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure PTSD. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure anxiety. But that doesn’t mean Jesus doesn’t offer us companionship and comfort. He ALWAYS does that.”
Read moreQuestion fifteen: Is salvation instantaneous or a process?
The word “salvation” comes from a Greek soteria which means deliverance, primarily spiritual deliverance. This salvation or spiritual deliverance has three tenses. We have been delivered from the condemnation of sin, we are being delivered from the control of sin, and we shall be delivered from the very circumstances of sin. I got tired of the p’s (penalty, power, and presence).
Read moreQuestion Fourteen: Does God’s Word teach Infant Baptism?
Covenant theologians like Robert Murray advocate the necessity and salvic merit to infant baptism. Robert L. Saucy points out "the difficulty involved in trying to distinguish the efficacy of baptism as it applies to adults and infants is noted by Reformed theologian John Murray. His attempt to maintain the same significance for both in the following quotation appears to contradict the clear biblical principle of salvation by faith.”[1]
Read moreQuestion Thirteen: What was Jacob Arminius’ view of the atonement?
Jacob Arminius believed in unlimited atonement as the following quote reveals: Christ died for all men; that He is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world; (1 John ii. 2;) that He took away the sin of the world; (John i. 29;) that He gave his flesh for the life of the world; (John vi. 51;) that Christ died even for that man who might be destroyed with the meat of another person; (Rom. xiv.15;) and that false teachers make merchandise even of those who deny the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction; (2 Pet. ii. 1, 3.)[1]
Read moreQuestion twelve: What are the five articles of the Remonstrance?
In 1609, the Five Arminian Articles or the Remonstrance were written by the followers of Jacob Arminius “in opposition to those parts of the Belgic Confession of Faith and the Heidelberg Catechism which stressed what came to be known as the five points of Calvinism, which were later set forth at the Synod of Dort (1618-1619).[1]
Read moreMichael Horton stated that “the concept of universal restoration (apokatatasis) was taught by the ancient Gnostics.”[1] So Horton shows the similarity between restorationism and apokatatasis and universalism. Horton also calls apokatastasis and universal restoration inclusivism. Horton notes the conflicting views of Karl Barth on universal restoration. One place in his Church Dogmatics he writes “There is no one who does not participate in Christ in this turning to God... There is no one who is not raised and exalted with him to true humanity.” But for them Barth insists, “The Church ought not to preach Apokatastasis.”[2]
Read moreThe phrase "one another" is derived from the Greek word allelon which means "one another, each other;
mutually, reciprocally." It occurs 100 times in the New Testament. Approximately 59 of those occurrences are
specific commands teaching us how (and how not) to relate to one another. Obedience to those commands is imperative. It forms the basis for all true Christian communities and has a direct impact on our witness to the world (John 13:35). In addition to allelon, the Bible uses other words and phrases to instruct us how to relate to others. With that in mind, the following list is not exhaustive, and primarily focuses on the use of allelon.
Read moreHere is a list of criticism and conflicts that churches have experienced. It will be good for us to read of the criticisms and conflicts other churches have endured. In this post we learn how to handle criticisms and conflicts:
Read moreWhat Tim Challies teaches on sacrificial or grace giving was exemplified by the Philippians in 2 Corinthians eight and nine. Challies writes in an article: Money Matters: How much do I give?
If you are giving an amount that really doesn’t even impact you—you make $10,000 a year and are giving $100 or you make $50,000 and are giving $250 or you are making $50,000,000 and are giving $20,000–your giving is not truly sacrificial. Giving is meant to be felt. If you aren’t feeling your giving, if you aren’t having to put other plans on hold because of your giving, you are probably not giving enough. There is a special kind of thrill that comes at the end of a year when you look at what you have given that year and see sacrifice. You can see that you could have had a new computer or a new kitchen or a new car, yet you’ve chosen to serve and honor the Lord. That is a God-honoring sacrifice. God loves that. God blesses that. And there is the second principle: At a minimum, give enough that it makes a difference to your financial position.
Read more“Woodrow Wilson told the story of being in a barbershop one time: ‘I was sitting in a barber chair when I became aware that a powerful personality had entered the room. A man had come quietly in upon the same errand as me to have this hair cut and sat in the chair next to me. Every word the man uttered, though it was not in the least didactic, showed a personal interest in the man who was serving him. And before I got through with what was being done to me I was aware I had attended an evangelistic service, because Mr. D. L. Moody was in the chair. I purposely lingered in the room after he had left and noted the singular effect that his visit had brought upon the barbershop. They talked in undertones. They did not know his name, but they knew something had elevated their thoughts, and I felt that I left that place as I should have left a place of worship” (John MacArthur, Matthew 1-7, page 236). Mr. Moody had exerted Christian influence.
Matthew’s Gospel can enable us to exert Gospel influence. Matthew wrote to win Jews.
Read more“One of the most neglected doctrines of the Word of God is church discipline” (Paul Jackson, The Doctrine and Administration of the Church, 75). “The attitude which accompanies the work of discipline is vital” (Ibid., 76). This post is a quick review of Paul Jackson’s chapter on Church Discipline. There are great resources at 9marks on church discipline (click to view).
Read moreQuestion ten is Who was Theodore Beza?
Theodore Beza 1519–1605 was John Calvin’s first student and Calvin’s successor for 46 years at Geneva after Calvin’s death in 1564. Shean Wright, biographer of Beza wrote: John Calvin was undoubtedly the father of Calvinism, but Beza very well may have been the first Calvinist. At the academy in Geneva, Beza assumed the role of the instructor of Greek and theology and pastor of a city church. Beza defended the Huguenots against persecution in France and debated against Lutherans in defense of Calvinism.
Read moreThe views of the Arminians set forth in the Remonstrance of 1610 were examined and rejected as heretical at a national Synod in Dort, meeting from 1618 to November 13, 1619. Not only did the Synod reject the Remonstrance position but it also set out to present the Calvinistic teaching in regard to the five matters called into question.
Read moreQuestion eight deals with apocatastasis which is the view of universal salvation held to by Origen. One of the texts on which Origen based his view of apocatastasis was 1 Corinthians 15:28.
“The Son’s submission to the Father means perfect reintegration of all creation, so the sub-mission of his enemies to the Son means salvation of his subjects and reintegration of the lost....this submission will take place in certain ways and times and according to precise rules: the entire world will submit to the Father, not as a result of violence, nor by necessity that compels subjection, but thanks to words, reason, teaching, emulation of the best, good norms, and also threats, when deserved and apt . . . Providence operates in of each one, safeguarding the rational creatures’ free will”[1]
Read more"Larry King, the former CNN talk show host, was once asked whom he would most want to interview if he could choose anyone from all of history. He said, 'Jesus Christ.' The questioner said, 'And what would you like to ask Him?' King replied, "I would like to ask Him if He was indeed virgin-born. The answer to that question would define history for me'" (From Just Thinking, RZIM, Winter 1998. Cited by ChristianAnswers.net).
We already have the answer to that question in God’s Word and the virgin birth of Jesus did define history. Luke the historian documents this defining moment in Luke 2. Jesus is one of three kings in the history of the Biblical account of His birth.
There are three kings in the Christmas story that Luke the historian documents in order to persuade us to worship the King of kings.
Read moreThis is question seven. What is the Christus Victor view of the atonement?
Gustaf Aulén in his 1931 Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of the Atonement, presented his Christus Victory which is like the ransom to Satan view but expands the victory of the atonement beyond just Satan to demons and all evil. Aulén defends his view: “Its central theme is the idea of the atonement as a divine conflict and victory; Christ — Christus Victor — fights against and triumphs over the evil powers of the world, the ‘tyrants’ under which mankind is in bondage and suffering, and in him God reconciles the world to himself.”[1]
Read moreThis is question number six. What is Amyraldian theology?
Amyraldianism is sometimes referred to as three or four-point Calvinism. Dr. Bowman writes: In France, the controversy continued largely around Moise Amyraut (Moses Amyraldus) who taught at the Academy of Saumur and John Cameron who also taught for a short time at the same school. Both men did not believe in limited atonement. Amyraut became the theological father of four-point Calvinism . . . Such men as Charles C. Ryrie and John Walvoord could be classified as four-point Calvinists.[1] All five-point Calvinists inevitably foster to some degree a limitation upon kosmos references pertaining to the soteriological import. This limitation is usually shown by pointing out references (such as Luke 2:1; Jn. 1:10; 12:29; Acts 11:28; 19:27; 24:5; Rom. 1:8; Col. 1:6; Rev. 13:3, etc.) that cannot mean everyone within the world. Such limited redemptionists as Symington, Pink, Berkhof, and Shedd may be consulted. It must be conceded that such references as above, and others, could have such a limitation placed upon them.[2]
Read moreB. B. Warfield in his book The Plan of Salvation identifies and exposes autosoterism: “All religions except the Christian are autosoteric... Pelagius, no mean systematizer, built up a complete autosoteric system...” Warfield quotes Pelagius: "I say," declares Pelagius, "that man is able to be without sin, and that he is able to keep the commandments of God." .... This was the first purely autosoteric scheme published in the Church, and it is thoroughly typical of all that has succeeded it from that day to this” (B. B. Warfield. quoted from Monergism https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/WarfieldPlan02.html).
Read moreAt Christmas, we simply think more about angels. We sing Christmas carols like Hark the Herald Angels Sing. We have angels adorning our Christmas trees. We send and receive Christmas cards with angels on the front. Ladies wear angel like jewelry. We watch our favorite Christmas movies with angels such as Jimmy Stewart’s It’s a Wonderful Life with Clarence the 2nd class angel who is trying to win his wings.
Most of us have heard angel stories from our childhood. Billy Graham in his 1975 Angels: God's Secret Agents told this angel story about his wife’s grandmother’s death: “The room seemed to fill with a heavenly light. She sat up in bed and almost laughingly said, ‘I see Jesus. He has his arms outstretched toward me. I see Ben [her husband who had died some years earlier], and I see the angels.’ Then she slumped over, absent from the body but present with the Lord.”
Read more