It is Harold Camping all over again. Once again someone has gained notoriety for predicting the return of Jesus. This time it is a fellow named Gary Ray. Continue reading →
September 23, 2017: Matthew 24:36 Is Proved Right Again (Updated)
Evangelical Escapades
A “Rest” To Be Resisted: Resting From The Sabbath
Passion City, an evangelical congregation in Atlanta founded in 2009 by Louie Giglio (whom the reader may remember from the inauguration controversy), announced this week that the congregation will be taking a Sabbath from the Sabbath this Lord’s Day and the next. . . . Continue reading →
Sneaky Squids And Sola Scriptura
When I saw Chris Rosebrough tweet something about a “sneaky squid spirit doctrine” I thought it must be something from The Onion or the Babylon Bee. It is not. It is the latest thing from the world of charismatic continuing prophecy. The . . . Continue reading →
Roger Nicole: An Open Letter to Dr. William Estep
My dear colleague, Your recent article in The Baptist Standard of Texas has come to my attention. I am grieved that you should have such a low opinion of Calvin and of Calvinistic Baptists. Although you hold that “most of the ardent . . . Continue reading →
Chick Became What He Feared
Chick Tracts ironically turn grace into the same kind of superstitious incantation that they passionately decry. —Samuel D. James
The Great Disappointment (October 22, 1844): A Reminder Of The Foolishness Of Ignoring Mark 13:32
William Miller (1782–1849), a lay Bible student (later a Baptist preacher), predicted that Christ would return to earth some time between 21 March 1843 and 21 March 1844. One of Miller’s followers postponed the date to 22 October 1844. When Christ did . . . Continue reading →
When The Room Is The Elephant
How can the church assert the truth of the gospel—an exclusive truth which makes demands in the present because of promises which will be fulfilled only in the future—in a world predicated on consumer options, entertainment, and instant gratification? Just a brief . . . Continue reading →
The Power And Influence Of The Evangelical Top Men
The economy of evangelical power is complicated but I want to highlight just two aspects today, aspects which have been critical in the recent discussion and which have a profound doctrinal significance. First, there is the fact that the same narrow gene . . . Continue reading →
I Have Not Seen Miracles Here: Between Pentecost And The Parousia
And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were . . . Continue reading →
The Author Of The Belgic Confession On 16th-Century Pentecostalism
There be some who have daily some new command from God, to make known unto their brothers and strangers. Some are rapt into an ecstasy and have their appearance and countenance changed, lying upon the ground certain hours. Some tremble and quake . . . Continue reading →
The Alliance Of Confessing Evangelicals In 1998: We Still Disagree With Rome
The first of these two documents, “Evangelicals and Catholics Together,” was a call to the Christian world to form a united front against the destructive influences of secular culture in such areas as ethics, statism, and the relativization of truth. In the . . . Continue reading →
Rick Warren And Catholics Together
Darryl Hart has a thought-provoking post today on Rick Warren’s recent comments about what Rome and Protestants have in common. Warren’s comments are a sterling reminder of the importance of knowing our church history. Yes, Christians of all the major traditions receive . . . Continue reading →
Act Like Elders Nonetheless
While the current bylaws greatly restrict our authority, we believe we must act like elders none-the-less,” they write. “It is time to take responsibility for our church, regardless of how much our current bylaws prevent us from exercising that authority. —Sarah Pulliam . . . Continue reading →
Helm: Modified Classical Theism And The Evangelical Big Top
It occurs to me that in this convergence of views in the direction of what is called ‘modified classical theism’ there is the makings of a theology for the ‘big tent’ of evangelicalism, a formula for providing space for the various disparate . . . Continue reading →
The Next Church-Growth Trend?
The Telegraph (UK) has a story about a flamenco-dancing priest in Spain. According to the story Fr. Pepe is wildly popular and especially with the ladies. They love it when, as part of the mass, he dances the flamenco. It’s no . . . Continue reading →
Facientibus Quod In Se Est Deus Non Denegat Gratiam
“To those who do what lies within them God denies not grace.” My students sometimes wonder why I make them memorize this late-medieval expression associated with a Franciscan theologian. This is why: (HT: Nick Davis)
Tribalists All
We may conclude, apparently, that Merritt favors cosmopolitanism to sectarianism. But what sense does this make of biblical calls for God’s people to isolate themselves. The Israelites weren’t exactly interested — or weren’t supposed to be — in a Jerusalem that featured . . . Continue reading →
The Power Of The Group To Extract Conformity
But the face of Big Brother seemed to persist for several seconds on the screen, as though the impact that it had made on everyone’s eyeballs was too vivid to wear off immediately. The little sandyhaired woman had flung herself forward over . . . Continue reading →
The Dubious Aesthetic Virtues Of Some Contemporary Praise Songs
HT: Chortles Weakly
John Paul II, Sister, & Billy Sunday
Yet with Rome, the grandeur and spectacle of it all somehow overwhelms and masks the fact that its trading on fundamentally the same motive that drives TMZ. It’s easy to make fun of the extremes of Americana religion, with Sister Aimee riding . . . Continue reading →