The story of the Bible is the story of God’s work in the world. It is His (God’s) story, that is the fundamental and original understanding of history. It is only in the post-Enlightenment, modern, secular, humanistic world that God…
Category: Theology
Halfway Covenant
Half-Asked Questions, Half Assessed Answers Classical Congregationalism had barely been hatched when its demise began. Expectations for church membership had always been strict among Congregational churches, in keeping with Christ’s demands upon the faithful. The high-water mark had been set…
Church Growth
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one. — John 17:22 The phrase “Give glory to God” (Jos 7:19, Jer 13:16) is a Hebrew idiom meaning, “Confess…
Church Growth 2
“Church Growth” has become the byword for evangelism everywhere today. The Church Growth model is almost universally applied, regardless of theology or denomination. All church activity is measured in Church Growth categories. The Church Growth model for evangelism involves the…
Charles Finney
Friend of Foe? The most successful advocate of Arminianism in America was not Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609), but Charles Finney (1792-1875). Because The Works of Arminius (Baker Book House, reprinted 1996) are highly intellectual and academic — bordering on the arcane,…
Feminine Mystique
I grew up and was educated during the blossom of the feminine spirit. My years in seminary witnessed a vicious attack on everything masculine — including pronouns! Ordinary sentence structure was convoluted beyond common sense and the basic rules of…
Emergence
Fads have become the engines that drive culture in the 21st Century. Corporations chase fads in order to profit from them in various ways. Corporations also create fads as a means of marketing their products. The ideal marketing program is…
Definitions
What do we do when the meaning of something is disputed? “…if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3). Our world is currently in the midst of revolution, a drastic and far-reaching change in ways of…
Congregationalism
A Brief History of Congregationalism ©1998 Phillip A. Ross Renewal is often the rekindling of a former glory, and the former success of Congregationalism was indeed great. Yet, history does not travel backwards. The majority of contemporary Congregational church members…
What Is A Christian?
What makes a person Christian? It sounds like a simple question, but it has been complicated by sin and history. Jesus’ first sermon set the standard — “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Clearly, Christians…