It’s clear from Scripture and our own experience that humans, though created in God’s image, are sinners. We have a decided inner propensity toward sin. But is it at least possible that a regular human who is capable of sinning could somehow live a sinless life? Theoretically? That’s where “Pelagianism” comes in. Background of the Pelagian […]
In its early centuries, the church wrestled with how exactly to describe Jesus. When Arius taught that Jesus wasn’t fully God, the church consensus clarified that Jesus was, in fact, fully God. Then, when Apollinarius swung the pendulum to the other side, suggesting that Jesus couldn’t have been fully human, the church clarified that Jesus […]
Choose Courageous Renewal We have articulated the principles by which we believe church leaders and churches can meet the most important challenge we face right now: Courageous Renewal Courage is needed because we are now living in a culture whose values and practices are such that people are increasingly hostile toward many of the stands […]
At the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325, the vast majority of the church’s leaders affirmed that Jesus was fully God (contrary to the teaching of Arius). Yet, if Jesus is fully God, then doesn’t that call into question Jesus’ full humanity? Wouldn’t it be easier to believe that Jesus was of only one nature, […]
After the Roman emperor Constantine used Christianity to unify his empire, his son Constantius went one step further: He attempted to unify the Roman empire under an even more unifying version of Christianity: Arianism. Arianism, with its less-than-fully divine Jesus, made for an easier version of Christianity for pagans to assimilate into. But was it […]
The New Testament wasn’t delivered to the church in a leather-bound booklet. When it came time for the early churches to determine which books made the “canon,” there were multiple pieces of literature in circulation. Which ones belonged in Scripture? Background and Summary As Christianity spread, it became necessary to identify what books comprised its […]
Imagine that your church is being persecuted in ways that drastically separate those who follow Jesus from those who cave to the pressure. Let’s say that at some point the persecution subsides, and the Christians who disowned Jesus in one way or another are wanting back into the church. How should your church respond? Background […]
Early Christians, especially in the 2nd Century AD, had to respond to a philosophical-religious system that had begun synchronizing with Christianity. Was it okay to blend the “best” of both systems in a way that compromised some of what the apostles had originally taught? Background and Summary Gnosticism was a philosophical system which attached itself […]
