19 Sep 2018
Posted by Steven Wedgeworth 
It's time to bring our series on the identity and government of the church to a conclusion. You can find the previous installments here: Part 1: The Crisis of Rome and Its Claims of Ultimate Authority Part 2: Church Origins and Officers in the New Testament Part 3: Bishop-Elders and Bishops in the Late...
Read more → 14 Sep 2018
Posted by Steven Wedgeworth 
As we move into the third century, the relevant body of Christian literature grows considerably. The episcopalian structure of government has become more universal, and all of the writers of this period reference a singular bishop as holding a place of authority. They also largely repeat Irenaeus' argument...
Read more → 13 Sep 2018
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson 
God changes us over time. That change begins with the lesson--which may take a lifetime to learn in the way that it really needs to be learned--that the first thing we must do is to give up trying to justify, or vindicate, ourselves. Abandoning the desire for self-justification is the necessary precondition...
Read more → 13 Sep 2018
Posted by Steven Wedgeworth 
We are continuing our look at the way the early church organized itself. You can see the earlier posts here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. This post will highlight some of the more important development that would eventually lead to the Roman Catholic claims about the relationship between Peter and Rome's...
Read more → 11 Sep 2018
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson 
Augustine talks a lot about moms in the Confessions: particularly his own mother and the church as the mother of the faithful--though not Mary. This is unsurprising, because Augustine knows nothing of Marian devotion. But it is not only the church who is the mother of believers; Scripture is, too....
Read more → 10 Sep 2018
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson 
In response to the question, "What was God doing before he created the universe?," one frequently encounters the claim that Augustine said, "He was preparing hell for those who ask such questions." In other words, Augustine was owning the confused. But Augustine had more sense than to use such a strategy avant...
Read more → 06 Sep 2018
Posted by Steven Wedgeworth 
We are continuing our series on the identity and government of the Christian Church and how it relates to the claims of the Roman Catholic Church. My first post explained why this question is freshly relevant and urgent for Roman Catholics, and it laid out the Roman Catholic claims about how the Christian...
Read more → 06 Sep 2018
Posted by Steven Wedgeworth 
In a previous post, we discussed what the Roman Catholic Church claims about the founding of the church and the implications of that founding upon the identity and leadership of the church. It is important to pay attention to the details of the claim. Rome does not merely state that churches must have...
Read more → 05 Sep 2018
Posted by Steven Wedgeworth 
In the wake of the latest round of sexual abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church, I would like to invite all Christians and serious moral thinkers to leave that ecclesiastical institution. Many sincere members of that church have confessed that they no longer trust their pastors and their bishops....
Read more → 29 Aug 2018
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson 
In this installment, Contarini continues on the theme of justification before God by imputation, that is, by the merit of Christ apart from any works of our own. The justice or righteousness by which we are justified--by which we are wholly pleasing to God--is that which is gratuitously given to us, in...
Read more →