Posts Tagged ‘Church History’
Podcast – Interview 22: The Story of Beauty in Church History – David de Bruyn
Our latest edition of FrontLine is called, “The God of Beauty.” We introduced this edition with Interview 20, where coordinating editor Mark Herbster laid out his objectives in assembling writers to address this topic. You can catch that interview here. Last week we talked to David de Bruyn on The Meaning of Beauty. This week,…
Read MoreHalf a Millennium of Believers Baptism
Less than two years from today will bring us to an incredible 500-year anniversary that should be remembered by God’s people: January 21, 1525, was the day that saw many brave Anabaptists receive baptism as believers. Among those baptized at that time were Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, and George Blaurock. “The newly baptized then pledged…
Read MoreHistorical Theology for the Church – a review
Duesing, Jason G., and Nathan A. Finn, eds. Historical Theology for the Church. Nashville: B & H Academic, 2021. A review by Don Johnson What is historical theology? “Historical theology is the study of the development of Christian doctrine and tradition from the Bible by the church and for the church.”1 This is the “working…
Read MoreSeparation Compared: The Ancient and Modern Church
Some years ago, I was asked to consider the separation engaged in by the ancient church in comparison to the modern church. To what extent should a church separate from certain practices? Is there anything in culture a Christian abstain from? Separation Based on Acceptance When Constantine granted freedom to the Christian religion, many people…
Read MoreA Voice Long Silent Speaks for Today
Isaac Backus—Baptist Defender of Religious Liberty In recent times the separation of church and state has become an argument for barring the church from any input in the secular state. But the original idea was to bar the state from meddling in the church, not the converse. This critical distinction is evident in the thought…
Read MoreThe Crisis of Missions
(or, The Way God Can Use One Man) Uncle Tom’s Cabin first appeared in 1852 in serial form and was later published as a book, setting sales records. Its emotional portrayal of the suffering of black slaves in the south captured the attention of the country. A decade later, during the early days of the…
Read MoreA Tale of Two Churches
The following article is offered as a prospectus for hopefully more extensive research into the invasion of the two main Baptist conventions in the USA during the 20th Century into local church autonomy. If anything, a Baptist church is to be an autonomous body that is ruled by congregational polity. Both conventions – Northern and…
Read MoreUnity and Purity In The Church
A Historical Survey As early as the second century, two contradictory trends had developed that would affect the doctrine of the church until the present time. One trend was toward external unity; the other was toward internal purity. These two directions were present prior to the Reformation, as Catholicism formed around the concept of an…
Read MoreLessons from the Caffyn Controversy
Can we learn from history? Given the oft-repeated mistakes of men, the adage that answers in the negative seems all too true. In the hope that perhaps we can be an exception, I’d like to draw your attention to Matthew Caffyn and the 17th century. Matthew Caffyn was a General Baptist pastor in…
Read MoreEvan Roberts and the Welsh Revival
George Stiekes O Lord, revive thy work Habakkuk 3:2 Last week, we noted that real revival is preceded with frequent, serious, often intense prayer. Revival is not normally something the church leadership places on the calendar. However, as God’s people begin to get a burden to see God show Himself strong in our midst, they…
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