In this article, what I want to do is to help us rid our minds of modern and medieval thinking when approaching Paul’s letters, and step back into the first century context and read from their vantage point. My proposal is actually very simple. Read Paul’s words for what he actually says, not what we …
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 »
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 …
This article is an argument for Anabaptism for those who are confused by endless doctrinal disputes. You may see good things in different Christian denominations, but you also see the holes in the narratives of different sides. So how are you going to pick which Christian denomination you should be a part of? You just …
The essence of Anabaptism, and our most defining belief, is probably the doctrine of the two kingdoms, or the related doctrine of “separation from the world.” Basically all our distinctive beliefs flow from this doctrine, which was also held by the early church up until Constantine. In this article, I will give a defense for …
Two Kingdoms & Separation From the World—a Defense Read More »
One thing that confuses many Christians is the difference between the Old and New Testaments. Is the Old Testament still in effect? How do the books of the Old Testament apply to Christians? Anabaptists believe that the Old Testament is no longer our rule of life. The New Testament supersedes the Old, and Jesus and …
In the New Testament, you might have noticed that the word “tradition” is used in different ways. For example, Jesus condemns the Jewish religious leaders for holding to their tradition rather than to God’s word (Matt 15:6). On the other hand, Paul tells the Thessalonian church to “stand firm and hold to the traditions that you …
In this post, I will present an Anabaptist view of salvation and contrast it with the Protestant view of salvation. What Is Salvation? The central thing that God wants is that we love him and each other, as this story from Jesus’ ministry shows: And behold, a lawyer stood up to put [Jesus] to the …
