According to Dr. Bart Ehrman, in his book Misquoting Jesus, there exists a category of New Testament alterations which includes changes that occurred because copyists “who were not altogether satisfied with what the New Testament books said modified their words to make them … more vigorously oppose heretics, women, Jews, and pagans.” Yet he fails to come […]
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Church History: Why Church History Matters
So why is church history so important? Or is it? For the average Christian, the thought of studying church history most likely seems boring or irrelevant–but church history is vitally important! So what’s so important about church history? Here’s a question-and-answer I did a short while ago on this topic as part of a discussion […]
[Read More...]Church History: How Did the First Christians Defend the Truth about Jesus?
Christian History Made Easy: Session 2 – Defending the Truth from Rose Publishing on Vimeo.
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Apologetics: Can We Trust a Copy of a Copy?
I slumped in an unpadded pew, half-listening to the morning Bible study. I wasn’t particularly interested in what the Bible teacher in this small Christian high school had to say. But, when the teacher commented that the Gospels always reported word-for-word what Jesus said, I perked up and lifted my hand. This statement brought […]
[Read More...]Church History: What Are the Gnostic Gospels and Why Do They Matter?
Christianity.com: What are the Gnostic Gospels?-Timothy Paul Jones from christianitydotcom2 on GodTube.
[Read More...]Church History: Why the History of Christianity Matters
Christianity.com: Why You Need to Know Christian History – Timothy Paul Jones from christianitydotcom on GodTube.
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Theology: Jonathan Edwards on What It Means to Be “In Christ”
“By virtue of the believer’s union with Christ, he doth really possess all things. That we know plainly from Scripture. “But it may be asked, how does he possess all things? What is he the better for it? How is a true Christian so much richer than other men? “To answer this, I will tell […]
[Read More...]Church History: What Are Some of the Best Books about Church History?
Video courtesy of Christianity.com So now that you’ve spent thirty days looking at the history of Christianity, what’s next? What books or videos can provide you with deeper understanding of how God has worked throughout the past two thousand years? Well, not surprisingly, I’m a bit partial to a certain book and video series known […]
[Read More...]Church History: How and When Will God Bring History to an End?
Video courtesy of Christianity.com For more on how Christians have thought about the end of time throughout history, take a look at this book and video series: Rose Guide to End Times Prophecies and Four Views of the End Times. 30 Days through Church History: Day 29
[Read More...]Church History: Why Is Christianity Currently Headed South?
30 Days through Church History: Day 28
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Church History: How Did a Christian Politician Help to End the British Slave Trade?
To learn more about William Wilberforce and the end of the British slave trade, read this introduction from Eric Metaxas or this summary from C. Ben Mitchell. 30 Days through Church History: Day 24
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Church History: How Christians Settled an Argument About Election
:: Defenestration and Divine Election in Seventeeth-Century Europe :: By the opening years of the seventeenth century, the Reformation had turned European Christianity into a conglomeration of conflicting sects. The Roman Catholic Council of Trent drew a firm line between Catholics and Protestants by declaring that Roman Catholic tradition represents the final authority when it […]
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Church History: How the Anabaptists Challenged the Place of the State in Matters of Faith
The first wave of Reformers never quite escaped the idea that the church and the government ought somehow to be linked with one another. This arrangement had been around ever since the fourth century A.D., and it wasn’t easy—even for Scripture-saturated, gospel-loving preachers like Luther and Calvin—to see any other way to sustain society. In […]
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Church History: The Centrality of Preaching in the Ministry of John Calvin
Martin Luther wasn’t the only lawyer who became a leader in the Reformation. In 1534 another lawyer traveled along another rutted road. His life had been shaken in much the same way that Luther’s had been—though not by a storm that drove him to call out to a saint. This lawyer was a Renaissance humanist […]
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Church History: How a Tract About a King’s Marriage Cost William Tyndale His Life
Video courtesy of Rose Publishing While Martin and Katie Luther were turning Wittenberg into a launching-point for the reformation in Germany, King Henry VIII was launching a very different reformation in England. To learn more about Henry VIII, William Tyndale, and the English Reformation, watch this video; then, listen to this fascinating lecture from my […]
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Church History: Was Martin Luther Crazy?
For me, this video, entitled “The Insanity of Luther,” from R.C. Sproul is far more than a history lecture. I first watched this lecture in an earlier iteration, on VHS tape at a church in rural Kansas in the summer of 1992. A few months after that, a seven-year theological tribulation began in my life […]
[Read More...]Church History: Reformation Day Meets Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Skip the opening minute of “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” and enjoy a Martin-Luther-meets-Mary-Poppins-mashup of the history of the Reformation. 30 Days through Church History: Day 16 Bonus
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Church History: How Did the Fall of a City and the Invention of a Printing Press Open the Door for Reformation?
Enormous tragedies struck Europe and Asia Minor throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. At one point, three different Roman Catholic bishops each claimed to be the legitimate pope. The Black Death claimed millions of lives. Muslim soldiers conquered Constantinople, the last remaining fragment of the ancient Eastern Empire. In the midst of these tragedies, God […]
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Church History: Why You Might Want to Avoid the Fourteenth Century in Your Time Travels
Video courtesy of Rose Publishing Someone, somewhere, reading this post could be an inventor—perhaps even someone who could someday invent a time machine. If so, I’d like to offer a simple suggestion. Don’t aim your machine in the direction of fourteenth-century Europe. A move in the direction of the fourteenth or early fifteenth centuries might […]
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Church History: What Did Francis of Assisi Mean When He Said, “If Necessary Use Words”?
You’ve probably heard the quotation at least a few times, most likely in a sermon encouraging people to live their faith in the world. “‘Preach the gospel at all times,’ Francis of Assisi said. ‘If necessary, use words.’” It’s a heartwarming sentiment with two flaws. First off, St. Francis never said it; second, even if […]
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