This post is about the words catholic, orthodox, and evangelical and what they mean. The first question is whether only one branch (denomination) of Christianity can legitimately use any of these words. The answer is No; many churches can use them. The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed includes the words “In one holy catholic and apostolic Church”. So any […]
The word evangelical means simply “of or according to the teaching of the gospel (the good news)”. Evangelical was used by Martin Luther to characterize the Reformation so that in Europe it is often a synonym for Protestant. In America the term (often capitalized) has come to have a particular meaning, characterized by historian David
Google’s Ngram Viewer gives the frequencies of words and phrases in books since about 1800. It is an interesting way of looking at history in the last two centuries. What follows are some observations about the usage of words associated with religion and Christianity: Usage of the word religion has gradually decreased since 1810, steeply until 1860.
There is one Gospel but four ways of understanding it. These correspond to the four “Gospels”, that is, the Gospel according to Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. They each emphasize different aspects of the good news of Jesus Christ. For example, see Characteristic Differences of the Four Gospels (which Kregel Publications calls “Four Views of
The main problem with evolution is not that it has the wrong history but that for evolution history is everything. That’s everything including the laws of nature, philosophy, religion, God, literally everything. The one law of evolution is that everything evolves. There is no being, only becoming; there is nothing fixed, only change. But surely they
Here are various links worth exploring. Seeking Answers? Be Thinking Every Student LeaderU Testimonies TrueU Religion and Public Life Ethics and Public Policy Center First Things Pew Forum World Magazine Help the Persecuted Barnabas Fund Persecuted Church The Voice of the Martyrs Defending Liberty American Center for Law & Justice Beckett Fund Center for Religious
The three streams concept was introduced in the book, “The Household of God” by Bishop Lesslie Newbigin of the Church of South India in the1940’s. The movement developed further from the “third wave” of the Spirit in the 1980’s. The basic idea is that the church has been needlessly divided because of differences that should flow
Creeds began as a way for the Church to exclude heretics. A council of Bishops would meet and come to agreement on a creed. A creed affirmed propositions that a heretic would not affirm. A creed might also deny propositions that a heretic would affirm. But a creed was not a theology. It did not
First, for those who want an introduction to apologetics, I suggest this video by Dr. R.C. Sproul on Defending Your Faith, lecture 1: http://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/defending-your-faith/introduction-2/. Note in the second part he addresses Greek philosophy. One way to compare different approaches is to look at what they consider believers and unbelievers have in common and how to
At least from the time of Constantine to the Middle Ages, the Church was involved in the world – i.e., public affairs and endeavors such as philosophy. The Reformation was partly a reaction against this, refocusing the church on spiritual matters and leaving worldly matters to others, that is, to Christians outside the church’s official
