Timothy Paul Jones

Free apologetics resources from Timothy Paul Jones

Timothy Paul Jones

Culture: The Priority of Heavenly Citizenship

“Christians must avoid having their judgment controlled by political enthusiasms, being especially careful of this when the political ideology to which they are drawn appears just, reasonable, and friendly to the faith. This is not a prescription against patriotism, nor does it mean that all political persuasions are created equal—far from it—but that the church […]

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Church History: How Christians Settled an Argument About Election

:: Defenestration and Divine Election in Seventeeth-Century Europe :: By the opening years of the seventeenth century, the Reformation had turned European Christianity into a conglomeration of conflicting sects. The Roman Catholic Council of Trent drew a firm line between Catholics and Protestants by declaring that Roman Catholic tradition represents the final authority when it […]

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Church History: How the Anabaptists Challenged the Place of the State in Matters of Faith

The first wave of Reformers never quite escaped the idea that the church and the government ought somehow to be linked with one another. This arrangement had been around ever since the fourth century A.D., and it wasn’t easy—even for Scripture-saturated, gospel-loving preachers like Luther and Calvin—to see any other way to sustain society. In […]

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Church History: The Centrality of Preaching in the Ministry of John Calvin

Martin Luther wasn’t the only lawyer who became a leader in the Reformation. In 1534 another lawyer traveled along another rutted road. His life had been shaken in much the same way that Luther’s had been—though not by a storm that drove him to call out to a saint. This lawyer was a Renaissance humanist […]

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Church History: How a Tract About a King’s Marriage Cost William Tyndale His Life

Video courtesy of Rose Publishing While Martin and Katie Luther were turning Wittenberg into a launching-point for the reformation in Germany, King Henry VIII was launching a very different reformation in England. To learn more about Henry VIII, William Tyndale, and the English Reformation, watch this video; then, listen to this fascinating lecture from my […]

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Church History: How Did the Fall of a City and the Invention of a Printing Press Open the Door for Reformation?

Enormous tragedies struck Europe and Asia Minor throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. At one point, three different Roman Catholic bishops each claimed to be the legitimate pope. The Black Death claimed millions of lives. Muslim soldiers conquered Constantinople, the last remaining fragment of the ancient Eastern Empire. In the midst of these tragedies, God […]

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Church History: Why You Might Want to Avoid the Fourteenth Century in Your Time Travels

Video courtesy of Rose Publishing Someone, somewhere, reading this post could be an inventor—perhaps even someone who could someday invent a time machine. If so, I’d like to offer a simple suggestion. Don’t aim your machine in the direction of fourteenth-century Europe. A move in the direction of the fourteenth or early fifteenth centuries might […]

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Church History: What Did Francis of Assisi Mean When He Said, “If Necessary Use Words”?

You’ve probably heard the quotation at least a few times, most likely in a sermon encouraging people to live their faith in the world. “‘Preach the gospel at all times,’ Francis of Assisi said. ‘If necessary, use words.’” It’s a heartwarming sentiment with two flaws. First off, St. Francis never said it; second, even if […]

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Church History: The Rise of Islam, the Clash Over Icons, and the Crusades

Video courtesy of Rose Publishing :: The Rise of Islam :: In the early seventh century, an Arabian merchant named Muhammad claimed an angel had entrusted him with a message from the one true God. Muhammad began to rail against the idol-worship that he saw around him. At first, no one minded his message. Then, […]

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Church History: The Fall of the Roman Empire and the Church Planter Whose Planting Didn’t Go According to Plan

Video courtesy of Rose Publishing By the end of the fifth century, the western half of the Roman Empire was crumbling into a conglomeration of barbarian kingdoms. The city of Rome remained central for churches in communion with the Roman church, but Rome wasn’t nearly so central for the new barbarian rulers rising in the […]

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Church History: Who Was Augustine and Why Does He Matter?

As a young man in North Africa, Augustine traded the Christian faith of his mother Monica for the pursuit of personal pleasure and prestige. Despite her son’s descent into deeper rejection of God, Monica never stopped praying for him. And the more Augustine chased after the things he thought would make him happy, the more God […]

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Church History: How Did Church Councils Clarify What Christians Believed About Jesus?

Video courtesy of Christianity.com It’s one thing to live as a Christian in a world where your faith is persecuted and oppressed. Life may be hard but the boundaries between belief and unbelief are fairly clear. It’s quite another to remain faithful when the name “Christian” is not persecuted but praised and even endowed with […]

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Church History: What Was the Real St. Nicholas Known For?

Today, St. Nicholas is mostly known as a paunchy old geezer who spends one night each year breaking into people’s houses and stealing cookies before escaping to an Arctic hideaway where enslaved elves do his work for him. Kind of creepy when you think about it. The good news is that none of this was […]

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