Introduction St. Paul commands people to “examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.” (2 Corinthians 13:5). As a Protestant, I always thought that the test for faithfulness was how much I agreed with whatever doctrines I was taught – that faithfulness came in degrees, so to speak. I figured if I was…
Introduction As I mentioned earlier, on April 9th, 2017, Hank Hanegraaff, long time host of the Bible Answer Man radio program and president of the Christian Research Institute, became a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Naturally, many Christians freaked out. Evangelicals were saddened, fundamentalists said he was going to hell, Catholics were just happy he wasn’t…
INTRODUCTION The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (A.D. 381), which unites all Christians in orthodoxy, has the believer affirm that, “I believe in one baptism for the remission of sins.” How did the writers of this creed understand this statement? Was baptism referring to spirit or water? Were modes of baptism an issue? Were infants to be baptized?…
Introduction Henry T. Blackaby is a Southern Baptist pastor and the main author of the book Experiencing God as well as its related “family of Bible studies” (which also include study guides, an Experiencing God Study Bible, a devotional journal, and, of course, a youth edition). Experiencing God remains popular even after it was first written 30…
Introduction Is the “gift of tongues” operative today? Some say this spiritual gift passed away with the other miraculous gifts after the time of the apostles. Others argue that they continued on in the Church, and will continue until Christ returns. Some even say tongues are the gift of every true believer, while others point…
Introduction State recognition of homosexual civil unions (“gay marriages”) is now the law of the land, and the ongoing discussion has revealed that the views of various Christians on the issue are themselves varied. What I wish to look at here is not which one is correct (that has been, and is being, done ad nauseum), but rather…
Navigating the Tiber: How to Help Your Friends and Family Journey Toward the Catholic Faith Devin Rose’s follow-up to The Protestant’s Dilemma is titled Navigating the Tiber: How to Help Your Friends and Family Journey Toward the Catholic Faith. This time, Rose offers less of a polemic against Protestantism as a guide to helpfully engaging those who…
Introduction Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God? When this question is asked, it is important to understand not only what someone’s answer is, but what they mean by it. The sense in which a fundamentalist Christian answers the question may not be the same in which a philosophical Catholic answers it – and thus…
Introduction Many Christians point to 1 John 5:13 as being St. John the Apostle’s purpose for writing the epistle – namely, to assure believers of their final salvation based on their present belief. The verse reads, “I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in…
Introduction The books of First and Second Corinthians present an interesting dilemma for Christians. Both deal strongly with regaining / retaining unity within the body of Christ, yet in both letters we are also given principles of disunity – separation for the sake of the the body of Christ. This creates a tension that demands resolution.…
Douglas Beaumont 