It can hardly be said that today the world hates the church with a violent hatred. Particularly in these United States the world rather slights the church. It regards the church with a benevolent tolerance as a harmless, perhaps even somewhat helpful, but not overly useful institution. That attitude itself casts a serious reflection upon […]
Tag Archives: doctrine
May
14
Wycliffe Translators Using Protestant & Baptist Contributions to Publish Roman Catholic Bibles
posted by Joel Taylor
Wycliffe Bible Translators are producing Catholic bibles and translating the apocrapha. In Scripture, the Church is described as “the pillar and support of the truth” I Tim 3:15. Our labor, therefore, should be to maintain and preserve it. Wycliffe, a supposed Christian organization seems to have forgotten that there is a line regarding Scriptural doctrine […]
May
11
The Case for Closed Communion
posted by Joel Taylor
by Thomas Williamson By “Closed Communion” we refer to the policy in which only members of a particular local church are allowed to partake of the Lord’s Supper when celebrated in that church. This is in contrast to the policy of Open Communion, in which any visitors who profess to be Christians and who may […]
Truth vs. Fallacy #2: “There Are Many Interpretations of Scripture”
posted by Joel Taylor
Fallacy: [ A common thought ] “It’s not true that because I interpret the Bible in a particular way, and am confident of my interpretation, those who interpret it differently must "reject God’s word as authoritative". They might be just interpreting it incorrectly, but with full integrity. And so might I. Passionate doctrinal debate is […]
The Meaning of Dogmatism and Doctrine
posted by Joel Taylor
I believe that of all men Jesus was the most dogmatic. Having said that, let’s make sure we understand the meaning of dogmatism. The word “dogma” means “strict doctrine.” The word “dogmatic” means of a dogma positive in stating an opinion and arrogant When speaking of Christ’s dogmatism, we can disregard the third definition because […]
May
02
How Infant Baptism Prevents Christian Unity
posted by Joel Taylor
Jesus prayed: Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. – John 17:11 The desire of Jesus Christ is that we be united as one; one in standing against sin; one in being separated from the world; one in being united […]
April
16
Some New Thing
posted by Joel Taylor
For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing. – Acts 17:21 We live in an age when there is a great desire for that which is novel and different. The trend seems to be that what is old […]
“The” Issue Facing Evangelicals
posted by Joel Taylor
The corporate unity of Christendom is not the burning issue of these times. The real issue is the survival of the truth—that is, the assertion of the Holy Scriptures of Old and New Testaments, as the Divine Word, exclusive, unique, verbally inspired (for there is no other form of inspiration possible), the Christian’s only and […]
You’re Not Baptist
posted by Joel Taylor
If you call yourself Baptist – and you are a Pastor, a Sunday School teacher, or even a ‘Christian’ blogger, and you encourage people who are professing Christians, to read or follow anything by The Gospel Coalition, or listen to and trust those who promote them, I truly do not see how you can possibly […]
April
05
Check Mate to Dan Phillips, Frank Turk, Phil Johnson & John MacArthur
posted by Joel Taylor
It’s been almost a year since I asked this question to these Christian “leaders” and the response has been nada. Zilch. Nothing. In fact, these sages of wisdom have blocked me on twitter and facebook. That’s ok, I don’t mind that. The fact is, I have asked an honest, valid, question to a teaching that […]
That 144,000 Thing in Revelation
posted by Joel Taylor
Dan Phillips of the Pyromaniacs has a good question: He tweets: Explain this again: if the 144K in Rev. 7:4-8 are "spiritual Israel," then who are the innumerable crowds in v. 9? *Super*-spiritual Israel?— Dan Phillips (@BibChr) March 19, 2013 Let’s first look at the passage itself, Revelation 7:4-9: And I heard the number of […]
Guilt by Association–What the Bible Teaches
posted by Joel Taylor
There are many who automatically cry out against any type of guilt-by-association (gba) approaches by those who would address the public teachings or endorsements of others. Romans 12:3 is often invoked, the passage which tells us not to think more highly of ourselves than we should. Of course, the idea here when using this verse […]
Heresy and God’s Word (Part 1)
posted by Joel Taylor
It’s a strong, admittedly divisive word, sometimes used correctly, but more often than not, is defined slightly differently by Christians with so many nuances that it can be difficult to agree on what is and what is not, actual heresy. I’ve often been asked how I really know that certain teachings are heresy when maybe, […]
Tim Keller’s Heterodox Views of God & Christianity
posted by Joel Taylor
In his book, The Reason for God (quite a title!) Tim Keller espouses some, shall we say, heterodox thinking in regards to the nature and character of God as well as some pretty strange thinking of Christianity. I won’t cite everything that gave me the heebies, but here are a few. For example, Keller claims: […]
Q&A: Did Jesus Christ Commit Suicide?
posted by Joel Taylor
This question comes in response to a post which was in itself a response to John Piper and his teaching on Christians and guns in their home, which he opposes. Q: Was Christ committing suicide when He did not resist his murderers? A: Absolutely not, and for at least two reasons.
The Holy Spirit, the Blessing of Abraham
posted by Joel Taylor
in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. – Galatians 3:14 The spiritual blessings of God have always, from the beginning, been reserved for the remnant, those chosen to be saved among the mass of religious […]
Should Christians Observe Lent?
posted by Joel Taylor
I’m not against traditions, generally speaking. On the contrary, I’m all for it. Raised in the South, I enjoy Southern traditions to the hilt, and unapologetically. Yet, when it comes to Christians observing Lent, I’m a little more than hesitant to give a green light. The practice and observance of Lent is extra-Biblical, human tradition, […]
John Piper: Christians Don’t Need Guns in Their Homes
posted by Joel Taylor
Apart from written Scripture, Christians are never to arrive at final conclusions regarding instruction on life and godliness by the examples of men, ever, not even from missionaries or popular preachers. The written Word of God, alone, is God’s revelation to His people regarding such things. This counsel from Dr. John Piper, is most absurd. […]
No Difference
posted by Joel Taylor
There is no difference between a Christian and a missionary, unless one holds fast the traditions of men and desires one to be exalted above the other as a special class of Christian, with a special calling nowhere found in Scripture. The Bible, apart from the apostles, makes no distinction between the two, and there […]
