Southern Baptists and Slavery I serve in a seminary founded by slaveholders as part of a denomination that began so that slaveholders could be sent as missionaries. Not only did early Southern Baptists practice slavery, but they also distorted Scripture to support the continued enslavement of African Americans. The Confederate States of America were seen by Baptists […]
[Read More...]PROOF: Who Invented the TULIP? (Part 3)
Did you miss Parts 1 and 2 of “Who Invented the TULIP?” Click here for Part 1 and here for Part 2. Where Did McAfee Find His Points in the First Place? Others have explored the origins of TULIP as far back as Cleland McAfee’s 1905 lecture. I find it highly unlikely, however, that this […]
[Read More...]PROOF: Who Invented the TULIP? (Part 2)
Did you miss Part 1 of “Who Invented the TULIP?” Click here to read it. Tiptoeing through (the History of) the TULIP The earliest name clearly connected to the TULIP seems to be Cleland Boyd McAfee. Born in Missouri in 1866, McAfee became a prominent leader in the Presbyterian Church. He moved to Union Theological […]
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PROOF: Who Invented the TULIP? (Part 1)
Chances are, if you’ve ever heard of the “five points of Calvinism,” you heard them first in the form of a flower—a tulip, to be exact. If your earliest awareness of these points was anything like mine, it began with the fallenness of humanity and ended with the security of the believer, with the most […]
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Church History: Why Does Church History Even Matter?
Why does it matter if Christians know the history of their faith? Well, imagine trying to sustain a marriage with total amnesia, never fully aware of all the past experiences that you and your spouse have shared. Sure, it’s possible sustain such a relationship—and many people whose husbands or wives suffer from dementia valiantly do […]
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Church History: Why the Story of Our Faith Is Bigger and Better Than Facts and Dates
The following is the second half of an interview I did with Baptist Press related to my book and DVD-curriculum, Christian History Made Easy. Click here for the first half. Q: Why is the average person in the pew largely uninformed about church history? A: I think there are at least a couple of reasons: 1) Particularly among […]
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Church History: Why Should Anyone Care About Church History?
The following is part of an interview I did with Baptist Press related to my book and DVD-curriculum, Christian History Made Easy. Professor Timothy Paul Jones acknowledges that plenty of people view the study of history as boring–full of drab facts and dates they’d rather forget. But Jones says it shouldn’t be that way, and he’s […]
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Church History: How Christianity Happened
Easter is certainly a time for celebration, but it is also a time for solemn reflection. We fast and reflect during the season of Lent, then we celebrate the joy of the resurrection on Easter sunday. But what about after Easter? What then? The church has traditionally recognized the season following Easter as a time […]
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Church History: The Legacy of William Wilberforce
March 25th marks the anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in Great Britain. In 1807 the British Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act, eradicating the inhumane export of African slaves throughout the Empire. About 25 years following that, slavery would be completely outlawed within the British Empire. The major contributor to this movement […]
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Church History: An Interview with Tom Nettles on the Prince of Preachers
On January 31, 1892, Charles Haddon Spurgeon passed from this life. More than a century later, he remains one of the most widely-read preachers ever. In Living By Revealed Truth, Dr. Tom Nettles distills more than a decade of his own study into the text that now stands as the premier biography of Spurgeon. Here […]
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Family Ministry: Family Discipleship in the Middle Ages and Reformation
With the dawning of imperial favor in the early fourth century and the crumbling of the Roman Empire in the fifth, the primary locus of Christian practice drifted from homes to dedicated institutional structures. Especially in the early Middle Ages, there appears to have been a loss of the ancient model for discipleship in families. […]
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Family Ministry: An Ancient Christian Perspective on Family Ministry
This model for family ministry not only began before Paul’s generation but also persisted far beyond the lifetimes of the first followers of Jesus. Didache and Letter of Barnabas provide summaries of Christian practices that date to the first and second centuries A.D. Both of these writings include an identical command for parents—a command […]
[Read More...]Church History: How Did the Many Marriages of Henry VIII Change the History of Christianity?
Church History: A Quick Introduction to the Icon Controversy
Apologetics: Was Scripture Modified to Oppose Women and Jews?
According to Dr. Bart Ehrman, in his book Misquoting Jesus, there exists a category of New Testament alterations which includes changes that occurred because copyists “who were not altogether satisfied with what the New Testament books said modified their words to make them … more vigorously oppose heretics, women, Jews, and pagans.” Yet he fails to come […]
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Church History: Why Church History Matters
So why is church history so important? Or is it? For the average Christian, the thought of studying church history most likely seems boring or irrelevant–but church history is vitally important! So what’s so important about church history? Here’s a question-and-answer I did a short while ago on this topic as part of a discussion […]
[Read More...]Church History: How Did the First Christians Defend the Truth about Jesus?
Christian History Made Easy: Session 2 – Defending the Truth from Rose Publishing on Vimeo.
[Read More...]Church History: What Are the Gnostic Gospels and Why Do They Matter?
Christianity.com: What are the Gnostic Gospels?-Timothy Paul Jones from christianitydotcom2 on GodTube.
[Read More...]Church History: Why the History of Christianity Matters
Christianity.com: Why You Need to Know Christian History – Timothy Paul Jones from christianitydotcom on GodTube.
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Church History: The Words That Once Preceded “Amazing Grace”
John Newton, author of the hymn lyrics now known as “Amazing Grace,” was born on July 24, 1725. While doing some research related to Newton, I ran across another set of lyrics that are equally powerful but far less familiar. First off, a few little-known facts about “Amazing Grace”: * The original title wasn’t “Amazing […]
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