I did a double-take when I read the sign in front of a small, white church beside a two-lane blacktop that snaked through the hills of western North Carolina. I stopped and backed up my SUV to get a second look. The weathered 12’-by-18’ sign read: “Welcome to Trinity Baptist Church. We are an Independent,…
“I agree with every word, but only Roman Catholics read creeds.” I was walking down the sidewalk with a member of our congregation, and we had just finished discussing why our church reads creeds and confessions during congregational worship. The issue was at once simple and decisive—our church should not read creeds during congregational worship…
Confessions pervaded the life of the early church. It used them catechetically, liturgically, and apologetically. The early church would not know how to disciple new believers, perform acts of worship, or defend the faith apart from the use of confessions.
Emerging from the Puritan separatists in England, Baptists in every generation, and from a variety of theological traditions, have articulated their beliefs in published confessions to show continuity with orthodox Christianity and to give witness to their distinctive ecclesiology and practice.
Two distinct visions of Baptist identity had clearly emerged, one rooted in historic orthodoxy, the other in a highly individualistic doctrine of soul liberty. In the Northern Baptist Convention, only one could endure.
May the celebration of God’s work to use Dr. Mohler over the past thirty years at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary encourage you to delight in the goodness and grace of our God as we consider an example of Recovering Faithfulness.
Yet people ask us all the time, “Who are you? What’s a Baptist? How are you different than any other church or religious group?” One would hope that any church-going Southern Baptist could answer such questions with aplomb. But can they?
From the very beginning, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has been a confessional institution. Every professor must sign our confession of faith, the Abstract of Principles, agreeing to teach “in accordance with and not contrary to all that is contained therein.” This pledge has remained unchanged since 1859, but the history of Southern Seminary is a history with many twists and turns.
In 1997, three conservative scholars joined the faculty at SBTS, and their presence loomed large in the re-embrace of biblical and theological fidelity at Southern Seminary.
Kitchens will lead the Department of the Air Force Chaplain Corps—consisting of 2,200 active and reserve chaplains and religious affairs airmen.
THIRTY TO SIXTY SECONDS. That’s how long it took for the storm to explode Wes Fowler’s carefully regimented weekly schedule and, of profoundly more importance, to change his life and the lives of Mayfield, Kentucky’s citizens forever.
Apologetics is the reverent, reasonable, and humble defense—through our words and through our lives—of the hope we have in the risen Christ
Lost people are born again not because of impeccable argumentation but by the will and power of God working through the verbal witness
If we live like Jesus is the only way, we will be courageous. We will testify to the truth in Christ. We will not trim our convictions to please others, but in our teaching, preaching, and writing we will be faithful to our Lord.
In the West, the demand for the church to do the work of an apologist compares only with the task of reaching the pagan culture which the church faced in the second and third century AD. Report after report testify to the fact that Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012 according to Pew…
For many Christians in our culture, it’s easier to stay silent when one is in the minority opinion about a controversial topic rather than risk disturbing the status quo. Of course, there are wisdom issues about knowing when to speak up, and not everyone is called to join the battle in all the same ways.…
Although some people distinguish apologetics from evangelism in this way, in truth, this is an artificial and unhelpful distinction. In fact, it is especially unhelpful if one embraces a presuppositional view of apologetics.
Though I’ve been teaching, preaching, and writing about church history, theology, pastoral ministry, the Christian life, and much else for the past 25 years, all those things really boil down to one thing: a defense and proclamation of the glorious, saving gospel of Jesus Christ.
