Apologetics

Icons | The Orthodox Church Has Changed the Apostolic Faith

The Roman Catholic Church claims to be the one and only apostolic church, and so does the Eastern Orthodox Church. In this series of articles, I’ll show that neither church’s claim can be true. One way of addressing their claims is to focus on their reasons why they believe they have apostolic authority, which I’ve …

Icons | The Orthodox Church Has Changed the Apostolic Faith Read More »

When Should We Disagree With the Early Church?

When we try to discover the historic faith through early sources, we look for areas of consensus among early Christians. Typically, those beliefs are the ones we should also share. Not, of course, because the pre-Nicene church was infallible, but because we want to live the original Christian faith, and they can help us understand …

When Should We Disagree With the Early Church? Read More »

Development of Doctrine | Why Catholic & Orthodox Changes Fail

In a previous article, I showed that Scripture and the early church both agreed that all doctrine had been revealed to the apostles. Only Jesus and the apostles are “upstream” from doctrine; in other words, only statements by them can be taken as definitive of Christian doctrine. Everyone else is “downstream” from doctrine; our statements …

Development of Doctrine | Why Catholic & Orthodox Changes Fail Read More »

Why Doctrine Comes from Scripture—Foundations for an Anabaptist View of Doctrinal Authority

As Christians, we believe some teachings to be true and others to be false. But how can we tell which is which? Where does true Christian doctrine come from, and can those doctrines change or develop? This article will answer those questions and offer a from-the-ground-up defense for the view that Christian doctrine comes from …

Why Doctrine Comes from Scripture—Foundations for an Anabaptist View of Doctrinal Authority Read More »

Do Post-Nicene Fathers Exemplify Apostolic Christianity?

The Eastern Orthodox Church bases much of their theology on the “Fathers.” Typically, this means Christian writers who lived before approximately the 800s. The most influential church fathers for them tend to be those who lived and wrote between 325 and 787, when the first and last of the seven ecumenical councils took place. Some …

Do Post-Nicene Fathers Exemplify Apostolic Christianity? Read More »