Archive for August 2018
Clarifying Scripture’s Perspicuity: A Look at the Old Testament
Perspicuity is an older term for clarity. Explicit and implicit references to the perspicuity or clarity of Scripture abound in number. From the beginning, God’s speech has been understood, by creation (Gn 1:3, 6, 9) and the pinnacle of creation, humans (Gn 3:2, 9–10). When God speaks to the serpent (3:14–15), the woman (3:16), Adam…
Read MoreApostolic Fathers Every Christian Should Know: Hermas
The final article by Kenneth Berding focused on Apostolic Fathers every Christian should know is dedicated to Hermas. The Apostolic Fathers are the authors of the earliest Christian writings after the period of the Apostles. The writings span the end of the first century until the middle of the second. Kenneth Berding (Ph.D., Westminster Theological…
Read MoreEquip Your People to Counsel Each Other
I remember hearing a pastor of a fairly large church saying—at a counseling conference no less—that he wasn’t going to hire any more counselors on the church pastoral staff. What he meant was this: he had hired fine counselors whose schedules quickly filled with counseling, and they didn’t have time to equip the body to…
Read MoreNew video: What does God’s wrath have to do with the cross?
What does God’s wrath have to do with the cross? Is Jesus our propitiation and substitute on the cross? What is it about us that makes a sacrifice so necessary? If God is love, how can he pour out his wrath on Jesus? In this new Credo video, Matthew Barrett answers these questions and others…
Read MoreWhat does God’s wrath have to do with the cross?
What does God’s wrath have to do with the cross? Is Jesus our propitiation and substitute on the cross? What is it about us that makes a sacrifice so necessary? If God is love, how can he pour out his wrath on Jesus? In this new Credo video, Matthew Barrett answers these questions and others…
Read MoreWhy Four Gospels?
Why does the church have four separate accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus? And in what order were they written? In my book Why Four Gospels: The Historical Origins of the Gospels, I voice a theory first espoused by New Testament scholar Bernard Orchard in the mid-twentieth century called the Fourfold-Gospel Hypothesis. Four…
Read MorePraying for Others
What does the local church mean to you? Get past the answer you know that Christians are supposed to give. What place does the local church play in your discipleship to Jesus? Maybe you aren’t sure how to tell. One mark of a Christian who loves the church is that they love their fellow members.…
Read MoreThe Preacher’s Catechism: How Do We Enjoy God?
Question. How do we enjoy God?[1] Answer. We enjoy God as we submit our hearts to all that he tells us. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation (Isaiah 12:3) God loves a cheerful preacher. Our ever-blessed, ever-joyful God wants to be proclaimed by those who are brimful of the joy…
Read MoreLife Lessons from Ecclesiastes
Why me? We all struggle with that question at points in our life. The world is often unfair and we experience this lack of justice personally at times. What is more, when bad things happen, we wonder if God is involved in the operations of the world we live in. This is where the book…
Read MoreApostolic Fathers Every Christian Should Know: Papias
This is the fifth of six articles by Kenneth Berding focused on Apostolic Fathers every Christian should know. The Apostolic Fathers are the authors of the earliest Christian writings after the period of the Apostles. The writings span the end of the first century until the middle of the second. So far, Kenneth Berding (Ph.D.,…
Read MoreWhy Pastors Should Engage Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion
John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion is the classic Reformation handbook for understanding the theology and key teachings of Scripture. After nearly five centuries since its first appearance in 1536, it has withstood the test of time and remains a must-have resource for pastoral teaching and leadership in the Protestant and Reformed traditions. There…
Read MorePlain Theology for Plain People
In June, the new issue of Credo Magazine was released: Idolatry. The following is an excerpt from Colton Corter’s book review. Colton Corter is married to his wife, Lindsey, and they have both recently graduated from Southern Seminary. Charles Octavius Boothe wrote his systematic theology, Plain Theology for Plain People, in 1890. Boothe’s relatively unknown work…
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