Archive for June 2024
On Baptists and the Nicene Creed
When I was converted in Stanley Avenue Baptist Church, Hamilton, Ontario, in 1974 and subsequently baptized there and became a member, I wrestled with being a Baptist for a couple of reasons, one of which was the ignorance of my fellow Baptists about history: church history in general, Baptist history in particular, and even the…
Read MoreThomas Aquinas on Predestination
This is the second of three posts dealing with topics that are important in Reformed theology that were already carefully dealt with in the medieval era. In the last post we looked at Anselm’s perfect being theology, its rootedness in Scripture, and its elaboration in his Proslogion. So when later on we find John Owen…
Read MorePodcast Throwback: Will the real Luther please stand up? Matthew Barrett with Samuel Bierig
In episode 3 of this mini-series, Samuel Bierig asks Matthew Barrett, author of the new book The Reformation as Renewal, to introduce us to another side of Martin Luther, that side of Luther often forgotten. Though the oppositional narrative claims Luther radically severed himself from tradition, Barrett shows there’s more to Luther than meets the…
Read MoreYou Need One to Count to the Trinity
Western culture today parades its rebellion against nature and our Creator, against the goodness of bearing God’s image as men and women. Christians must defend the Bible’s teaching on God’s design for both sexes and how each complements the other. Many, however, do so by arguing that our roles and relationships as men and women…
Read MoreThe Historic Baptist View of the Nicene Creed – Truth Unites
Credo Fellow Gavin Ortlund helpfully examines the historical place of the creeds in the life of Baptists. He engages with the current conversation animated by the SBC Annual Meeting motion to add the Nicene Creed to the Baptist Faith and Message. He also addresses what the creed means by baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
Read MorePerfect Being Theology
The idea of ‘Perfect Being Theology’ gets short shrift from modern Reformed Christian theologians, even from some who should know better. The phrase is associated with St. Anselm, and with his ontological argument for God’s existence, which some have regarded as a stroke of genius. Here I am less concerned with that proof than with…
Read MoreHow did Irenaeus protect the church from early heresy? David and Jennifer McNutt
We tend to have an ideal picture of the early centuries of the church. The early church was a period of flourishing and growth, but it was also a period of persecution. The early church had hardships both externally and internally. On the one hand, early Christians had to deal with a misrepresentation of the…
Read MoreHow did Irenaeus protect the church from early heresy? David and Jennifer McNutt
We tend to have an ideal picture of the early centuries of the church. The early church was a period of flourishing and growth, but it was also a period of persecution. The early church had hardships both externally and internally. On the one hand, early Christians had to deal with a misrepresentation of the…
Read MoreOften Meditate on the Eternity of God
In my previous articles about Charnock, I explained how he argued that God is a Spirit and, therefore, not material. After this, Charnock turns to the eternity of God. This order has good reason, and it shows us how astute a metaphysician Charnock was. The two great questions for those who would investigate the nature…
Read MoreHow Classical Theism Has Shaped My Life
Like tossing the car keys to a ten-year-old boy and asking him to drive a red sports car, someone handed me a copy of Jürgen Moltmann’s The Crucified God and encouraged me to read it. (Moltmann, who was a towering figure in 20th century theology, died this week at the age of 98.) So, along…
Read MoreArticle XIX: The Creed
We encourage the Messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in June 2024 to affirm the Nicene Creed. We encourage the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in June 2025 to include the Creed as an article in the Baptist Faith and Message. We are also happy to include the Apostles’ Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and the…
Read MoreWhy should Baptists move with urgency to confess the Nicene Creed? – Stephen Lorance
There are few more pressing issues than preserving and proclaiming the unqualified and untrammeled Lordship of Christ, according to Stephen Lorance. This week at the Southern Baptist Convention, Andrew Brown, Stephen Lorance, Steve McKinion, and Malcolm Yarnell will move that the Messengers amend the BFM with the article, “The Creed.” The creed they are referring…
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