This past April, Andrew Naselli’s new volume, How to Read a Book: Advice for Christian Readers, was released by Canon Press. Over the past few months, six of my kids have read it. Most of them had already read Adler’s book with a similar title.[1] They thought...
Longtime friends of the seminary will fondly recall that Dr. Priest served on the faculty of DBTS from 1988 until his retirement in 2010. While Dr. Priest taught numerous courses in homiletics and Bible exposition, the focus of his teaching and writing ministry was in...
Jacob Arminius and the Doctrine of Original Sin - AloisiDownload
It’s that time of year when complete strangers ask children what they want a dead guy to bring them when he sneaks into their house in the middle of the night. And it’s also a time when Christian parents struggle to help their children answer such people in a way that...
Recently released videos by The Center for Medical Progress have brought to light some of the more egregious atrocities committed by Planned Parenthood in the name of women’s health and medical research. Anyone with a functioning conscience who has watched these...
At the beginning of the nineteenth century the country of Burma was almost 100% Buddhist, but such is no longer the case. According to the 2010 edition of Operation World, Burma (now called Myanmar) currently contains a sizeable minority of Christians including about...
A few weeks ago I wrote a post about Patrick (c. 389–c. 461). In response to that post, someone asked several questions about Patrick including whether or not he was Catholic. I offered a brief reply, and a colleague suggested that many people might have similar...
Although St. Patrick’s Day appears on our calendars each year, most modern celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day have little to do with the person behind the holiday. Next week many people will wear a little extra green, some will celebrate their Irish heritage, and more...
“Almighty God, our heavenly Father, seeing that since antiquity it has always pleased you to extend your grace toward your people, as perverse and rebellious as they were; and that you have never ceased to exhort them to repentance, but have always taken them by your...
In the spirit of the season, we’ll be giving away a couple of books to one of our readers very soon. Here are the books: Christians in an Age of Wealth by Craig Blomberg Workbook in Romans by Kenneth Berding If you’d like to be entered in the drawing, just leave a...
In his commentary on the Synoptic Gospels, John Calvin discusses Jesus’ statement that the “Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matt 6:8). Calvin addresses the question of why believers should pray if God already knows what we need. He suggests the...
The Chief Exercise of Faith - AloisiDownload
A few weeks ago, I mentioned a new little book written by Justin Holcomb, titled Know the Heretics (Zondervan, April 2014). At the same time that book was published, a companion volume titled Know the Creeds and Councils was also released. While the volume I mentioned...
Among the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, there is a rather troubling document dated from the year 1 B.C. It’s a letter written by a husband to his wife. The husband is out of town, and the wife is apparently expecting to deliver a child in the near future. Here’s the text:...
This past week many people on both sides of the abortion issue commemorated the 41st anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision (issued 22 Jan 1973). Since that time, more than 56 million unborn children have been legally killed in the United States....
This past week the good folks at Crossway sent me a copy of a new book that will likely stir the theological waters a bit. I’m referring to From Heaven He Came and Sought Her: Definite Atonement in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective, edited by...
After using Kindle for PC for several years, this past week I finally bit the bullet and purchased a Kindle Paperwhite. My initial impression of the device is very positive. I think I’m really going to like this thing. Perhaps I’ll write a post reviewing the device...
Recent discussions about the nature of worldliness reminded me of a statement that dates from the late fourth century. In his book On Christian Teaching, Augustine (354–430) discusses what it means to live a holy and just life. He says that a person who lives such a...
A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about six reasons for prayer drawn from John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion (3.20.3). In addition to these reasons for prayer, and in fact immediately following them, Calvin also put forward four rules or guidelines for...
Most people probably don’t have Detroit near the top of their list of possible vacation destinations, but there actually are quite a few interesting places to visit in and around the city of Detroit. The Detroit Historical Museum is located downtown in the museum...
Although St. Patrick’s Day appears on our calendars each year, most modern celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day have little to do with the person behind the holiday. This coming weekend many people will wear a little extra green, some will celebrate their Irish heritage,...
We’re giving away a copy of Karen Jobes’s book Letters to the Church: A Survey of Hebrews and the General Epistles. In order to be entered in the drawing, just share this post on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog. Once you’ve done one or more of those things, leave a...
One of the benefits of attending the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society is the opportunity to visit the meeting’s exhibition hall. In the hall one can peruse the latest titles from major Christian publishing houses and can purchase such books at...
One of the benefits of attending the Mid-America Conference on Preaching each year is the opportunity it affords for catching up with DBTS alumni. Last fall, I found myself sitting next to alumnus Matt Ortega in a workshop session. Both of our families have grown...
In this post, I’m going to address two misconceptions that people often hold concerning abortion. First, many people assume that elective abortions are a fairly recent phenomenon—something made possible only by modern medicine. And second, oftentimes people view...
One of the great things about attending a smaller seminary is the fact that you are able to get to know most of the other students. Jason Parker and I were in a number of classes together during our MDiv work at DBTS. I recently had the opportunity to ask Jason about...
I recently came across an interesting quote from Martin Luther about the prospect of social reform. He wrote, To be sure, the world sees evil acts, nay, it is amazed at them and complains about the great wickedness of people; but it does not know how it happens. It...
On May 30, a group of Southern Baptist leaders issued a document titled “A Statement of the Traditional Southern Baptist Understanding of God’s Plan of Salvation.” I initially ignored this statement as just another anti-Calvinist diatribe published by individuals whom...
Throughout church history professing believers have argued amongst themselves about all kinds of things. In retrospect, some of these debates have been key steps in hammering out the details of important theological issues. Other debates have been less than edifying....
Earlier this month many Americans were saddened to hear of an American soldier who allegedly killed some 16 Afghan civilians in cold blood—most of them women and children. Although this isn’t the first time an American soldier has been accused of murder in a time of...
It’s that time of year when grocery store clerks, kind-hearted relatives, and even complete strangers ask children what they want Santa Claus to bring them. And it’s also a time when Christian parents struggle to help their children answer such people in a way that is...
Giving Tuesday may be over, but there’s another way you can help DBTS financially this Christmas season and all year round. And it won’t even cost you anything. When you shop on Amazon using the link below, the prices won’t be any different, but Amazon will give DBTS...
On this day 499 years ago, a monk named Martin Luther (1483–1546) approached a church door in Wittenberg, Germany and posted a list of topics for academic debate at the local university. With this relatively innocuous act Luther started a movement that developed into...
Most seminary students are involved in teaching children in some venue or another. Many are husbands and fathers, and so are responsible for training their own children on a daily basis. Others are not, but are still involved in teaching children within the context of...
A little over fifty years ago, Carl Bangs lamented that Jacob Arminius (1559/60–1609) had been consistently misunderstood and misrepresented by both friend and foe alike (Bangs, “Arminius and the Reformation,” Church History 30 [1961]: 155–56). Some thirty years...
In a few days, we’re going to give away a couple of books to one of our readers. The books we are giving away are Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy and Four Views on the Historical Adam, both in the Counterpoints series published by Zondervan. In order to enter the...
In the West, most Protestants are at least somewhat familiar with Roman Catholicism. Many of us have Roman Catholic friends, neighbors, and even family members. And many believers have been saved out of Roman Catholicism. Much less familiar to most westerners is the...
From time to time I’ve met professing Christians who for one reason or another claim that they do not need to be part of a local church. In most cases, they seem to believe that because God has placed them in the universal Church, they can worship God just fine apart...
In honor of Reformation Day, here are a few resources you might want to check out. Ligonier Ministries has made a number of Reformation-related e-books and audio/video resources available to download for free (until 11:59 pm, Oct 31, 2014). Over on Amazon, several...
Last month a new book was released titled A Conservative Christian Declaration. Co-authored by six men (Kevin Bauder, Scott Aniol, David de Bruyn, Mike Riley, Ryan Martin, and Jason Parker) this fairly short volume (92 pp.) is intended to articulate “a fully orbed...
In August 1998, I ordered some of my first seminary textbooks as a student. That particular semester, one item stood out above the rest. Philip Schaff’s 8-volume History of the Christian Church stood out primarily due to its price. At the time Schaff retailed for...
Michigan Cherry Coffee Sure, you can order it online. But only Michigan coffeehouses serve freshly brewed coffee made from cherries grown just a few hours to our north. If you like coffee but haven’t tried Michigan Cherry coffee, you need to. And if you don’t like...
Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 260–c. 340) is generally considered the church’s first real historian. Although he provides invaluable insight into the history and workings of the early church, Eusebius is often criticized for his selective record and especially for his...
Over the past month or two, I’ve put forward a few suggested reading lists in the field of church history. These lists have included surveys of church history, books on the history of Christian doctrine, books that discuss church history in specific areas of the...
In recent weeks, I’ve posted a few suggested reading lists in the field of church history. These lists have included broad overviews of church history, books on the history of Christian doctrine, and books that discuss church history in specific areas of the world. In...
Over the past few weeks, I’ve posted a couple of suggested reading lists. These lists have included broad overviews of church history and books on the history of Christian doctrine. In this post, I’m going to recommend a number of books that focus on the history of...
About two weeks ago I began a recommended reading list for those who wish to brush up on the history of the church. My initial suggestions included a couple of church history survey texts. In this post, I’m going to mention a few titles that focus on the development...
I recently had a student ask what books pastors and future pastors should read in order to become familiar with the church’s past. I’d like to answer that question by suggesting a short list of books over a couple of blog posts. The nature of church history is such...
I heard it on the radio again the other day—a slick sounding ad depicting happy sounding people talking about how much fun it is to win “the big one.” It was an ad for the Michigan Lottery, and it left one with the impression that most people who play the lottery...