16 Jan 2019
Posted by Steven Wedgeworth 
One of the dangers inherent in "complementarianism" is the perception that ordination to ecclesiastical office is a matter of semi-arbitrary positive law and private zones of jurisdiction, that male leadership in church is only a question of ordination or specific church polity and only because a few bible...
Read more → 24 Sep 2018
Posted by Mark Jones 
Christians have not agreed on the proper mode of baptism. Many believe that the only proper way to baptize someone is by the full submersion of the body under water. They typically argue that baptizo means immerse and they also appeal to Romans 6 as a watertight (pardon the pun) argument proving the need...
Read more → 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 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 → 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 → 16 Jul 2018
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson 
It is well known that C.S. Lewis borrowed the phrase "mere Christianity" from the seventeenth-century Puritan Richard Baxter; Lewis says as much in his book called--wait for it--Mere Christianity. Lewis also uses the phrase with some regularity in other writings, as indicated here. For instance, in his famous...
Read more → 11 May 2018
Posted by Steven Wedgeworth 
Peter Hitchens has written a rather remarkable essay on the difference between the religious persecution carried out by Queen Elizabeth I and that done by Bloody Mary. What's more remarkable is that it was published by First Things. Mr. Hitchens' essay attempts a number of things, but its most important...
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