DBTS Web Articles
This semester Dr. John Aloisi and I are co-teaching a class called "Great Books." We are working our way through various books that have had a significant impact for one reason or another. Recently we read a healthy portion of Spurgeon's Lectures to My Students. If...
Over the past year, Christian leaders have been forced to think through the nature of governmental authority as it relates to the church. One consistent refrain has been that churches must comply with much if not all of the current government restrictions, because...
As a professor and occasional interim pastor, I routinely hear a question (or something like it): “Is __________ (fill in the blank with any popular author, radio/TV preacher, apologist, musician) a good guy or a bad guy?” Often the question is asked in passing with...
You may have heard about the pastor in Alberta, James Coates, who has been arrested recently in connection with his church’s gathering as a whole for worship (without masks or distancing), which violates the current government restrictions. You can see some details...
A while back I saw Oprah magazine had a list of 16 signs you may be in a loveless marriage (with the obvious assumption that love is something a person can fall in to or out of). Since this is a time in which many people are thinking about loving relationships, I’d...
A few weeks ago Doug Wilson outlined a solution to the “problem of prayer” in the face of divine sovereignty by championing the idea of special providence. Wilson is not, of course, the first to express this idea, but he does so uniquely and well,...
No one hates grace, do they? Who would ever be offended by a free gift? After calling a tax collector to follow Him, Jesus invited tax collectors and sinners to eat a meal with him (Mark 2:15–17). Jesus was showing grace to the outcasts. Tax collectors and sinners...
According to the World Heath Organization, over 42 million abortions were performed across the globe in 2020, making abortion the leading cause of death. This Friday marks the 48th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the...
Pastor Richard A. Harris (1934–2021) was the pastor of my youth. By God’s grace and through his efforts the Bethel Baptist Church of Sellersville, PA, was chartered in 1962 in an unlikely patch of Bucks County that, despite the otherwise booming growth of that county,...
I recently read Finding the Right Hills to Die On: The Case for Theological Triage by Gavin Ortlund. The concept of theological triage (coined by Albert Mohler, as far as I know) concerns categorizing doctrinal matters such that some are recognized as more vital than...
In my last blog post I addressed the irrational distrust that is increasingly plaguing religious and political conservatives. Specifically, I suggested that we ask of our theories about, say, mask mandates, social distancing, and vaccines, “Why would all these people...
About 25 years ago I was privileged to take several seminary courses that focused on the science of textual criticism. Textual criticism was really important in those days because epic battles were then raging over texts and translations as the King James Version lost...
It has been over 8 months since the initial major responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. Various local, state, and federal leaders and agencies have pursued a variety of responses and adopted a range of policies. Personally, I am thankful I was not responsible...
If you are a current pastor looking to strengthen your counseling ministry or are a church member not interested in vocational gospel ministry but would like to be better equipped and trained at helping others with God’s Word, consider pursuing the non-degree ACBC...
Theological diversity should not exist. But it does. I disagree with people who have the same background as I do, went to the same schools, and go to the same type of churches. How can this happen and what should be done about it? These are the questions that are...
I teach a class on research and writing here at DBTS. I don’t consider myself a gifted writer, but I’ve tried to be a student of good writing, and I’ve had some draconian editors along the way who have helped me in no small measure (HT: Andy Naselli). People sometimes...
Recently, I have been reworking my notes on the book of Revelation for a survey course I teach at the seminary. Since I do not have the luxury of spending months preaching through the book (as Pastor Jacob recently encouraged us to do), I was considering how to...
From time to time someone raises a concern about how a particular event, trend, or activity will harm the “evangelical witness.” “Evangelicals” are warned that their “witness” will be damaged because of high-profile scandals from “evangelical” leaders, too much...
In 2009, I pastored at a church north of Detroit. Because I had intended to be there for a long time, I made a goal to preach through the entire Bible. One of the last books that I planned to preach through was Revelation, because as you can imagine, I thought, “It...
The intersection of Acts 5:29 and 1 Peter 2:13 encapsulates a tension facing many churches today. Harmonizing these texts is not a simple task. Still, it can be done. The simplest harmonization goes something like this: “We must obey the government unless the...
One of the most important skills a believer can develop is the ability to utilize God’s Word to help those who are hurting. That ability lies at the heart of biblical counseling. I am excited to share some news at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary that will enable...
Dr. Dunham recently had an article published in the Journal for the Evangelical Study of the Old Testament. Here is a snapshot summary, along with a link to the article. Intertextual links between Deuteronomy and Ecclesiastes have begun only recently to garner...
Readers of our blog might be interested in a recent article I wrote for the latest edition of Themelios on a difficult passage and its relation to preaching: Text Criticism and the Pulpit: Should one Preach on the Woman Caught in Adultery?
In a recent sermon on Matthew 7:1-5, Dr. Doran mentioned that a portion of that passage is perhaps the most well-known in our culture. People know the phrase, “Judge not, that you be not judged,” even if they do not know where it comes from. The phrase is often used,...
I was recently reading a book designed to answer questions posed against Christianity.[1] The book is good, and I recommend it, but I want to use one of the statements in the book as a jumping pad to a point the author was not directly making. Rebecca McLaughlin was...
Over the years, dispensationalists have been called antinomian for many reasons. Mostly it’s been because of our tension with the so-called “third use” of the Mosaic Law: the appeal specifically to the Decalogue to inform Christian righteousness. Most...
Last week I published a short post, encouraging this blog’s readers to pick up a recently released book, Gentle and Lowly. This post will highlight some particularly helpful elements of the book. Before doing so, it would be helpful to express the book's structure....
As Democrats in the Senate yesterday sought to pass the Equality Act (which would remove some key current protections for religious organizations), Denny Burk highlighted an important point in our culture’s current clash between Christians and those pushing the LGBTQ...
In Monday’s edition of the Briefing, Al Mohler spent some time discussing a recent letter signed by over 1,000 health professionals. One of the letter writers shared the reasoning for crafting the letter as follows: “We created the letter in response to emerging...
Thomas Kidd, a professor of Church History at Baylor University, is personally invested in the answer to the question posed in the title of his book. He is invested, because he calls himself an evangelical, and he fits in the historical stream of those who have borne...
For as long as I can remember, there have been waves of concern within conservative Protestantism about antinomianism, roughly one per decade. For instance, we have seen movements such as… Norm Shepherd and the movement that bears his name John MacArthur and “Lordship...
Since we were not able to hold our commencement this year at DBTS, we are highlighting one of our graduates each day. Today we would like to recognize Timothy Schlater. Tim was born in Bucks County, PA, in 1986, the son of Robert and Judith Schlater. When he was 5...
Since we were not able to hold our commencement this year at DBTS, we are highlighting one of our graduates each day. Today we would like to recognize Joshua Roland. Josh was born in Denver, CO, in 1984, the son of Ralph (late) and Carol Roland. He came to Christ...
Since we were not able to hold our commencement this year at DBTS, we are highlighting one of our graduates each day. Today we would like to recognize Anthony Iorillo. Tony was born in Cleveland, OH, in 1982, the son of Mark and Maria Iorillo. When he was 13 years...
With the current restrictions on gatherings in Michigan we were unable to host our commencement ceremony this year at DBTS. While we have invited our graduates from this year to participate in our 2021 ceremony, we would also like to take some time to recognize their...
In light of the challenging time, I have been writing a series of posts designed to help us think through how to do evangelism during the pandemic. You can see the previous posts in the following links: Part 1, 2, 3a, 3b, 3c. Step 4: Keep the Conversation Going The...
Is the world better without religion? Doesn’t Christianity crush diversity? Doesn’t religion hinder morality? These are just a few of the twelve questions addressed by Rebecca McLaughlin in her debut book, Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World's...
This is a really strange time for ministry generally and evangelism specifically. Over the last few weeks, I have been writing a series of short posts designed to aid us in evangelism during this unprecedented time (See Step One, Step Two, Step 3a, and Step 3b). Step...
This is a really strange time for ministry generally and evangelism specifically. Over the last few weeks, I have been writing a series of short posts designed to aid us in evangelism during this unprecedented time (See Step One, Step Two, and Step 3a). Step 3b: Tell...
This is a really strange time for ministry generally and evangelism specifically. Last week, I began to develop a series of short posts designed to aid us in evangelism during this unprecedented time (See Step One and Step Two). Step 3a: Tell the Lost about Christ:...
This is a really strange time for ministry generally and evangelism specifically. Last week, I began to develop a series of short posts designed to aid us in evangelism during this unprecedented time (See Step One). Here is a second installment. Step 2: Tell the Lost...
Our pastor quipped on Sunday (3/22) that, during the present crisis, we should spread the gospel, not the virus. This is a really strange time for ministry generally and evangelism specifically. Over the next week or so (while we’re all staying put in our homes!), I...
This is a review of the book, The Saints of Zion: An Introduction to Mormon Theology Are Mormons Christians? If you don’t know the answer to that question, or if you know the answer but don’t know why your answer is right, then this book is written for you. The...
In Philippians 2:20-21, Paul gives a recommendation for Timothy that all those who serve Christ should covet: "I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ." In commenting...
As we embark on a new decade, it can be helpful to consider what has occurred over the previous decade(s) to consider what we might expect in the coming one. I recently read a thought-provoking argument that may have some insight into apologetics efforts in the coming...
In thinking about the gospel, one of the truths that is often forgotten is that Jesus, as the Messiah/Christ, came to fulfill God’s promises of salvation. The early disciples focused much of their evangelistic witness on identifying Jesus as the Christ. Let all the...
Christians in America have an increasing exposure to and awareness of a variety of believers who claim to be teachers and preachers of God’s Word. But this increased exposure has not always led to more skillful discernment and interaction with these teachers (as an...
Adoniram Judson entered Burma in 1813 and began laboring in sweltering heat and seemingly constant battles with sickness, disease, and death for the next thirty-eight years. He did not see a convert for the first six years of his ministry. After serving for eight...
NOTE: This is the second in a two-part series on one of the most significant fake letters in the history of the church. The previous essay introduced the reader to the letter, explained what it says, and showed the historical and factual problems with the narrative....