A decline in the spiritual life lies at the heart of every ruined ministry and every fallen minister. What leads to such a decline? Andrew Fuller (1754–1815), arguably the most important Baptist theologian of the late 18th Century, considered this question in a series of magazine articles in the late 1780s.
Church History professor Stephen Presley sat down with Jonathan Pennington at the Bookstore at Southern to discuss his recent book Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the World like the Early Church.
To defend our views on regenerate membership, congregational polity, and religious liberty, we can look back at our rich tradition and learn from how Baptists in the past articulated these views based upon a distinct covenant theology.
If these points seem obvious, it’s because they became so dominant in Puritanism and many of us are downstream from the tradition.
The God of Edwards was not a tyrant or unfair. But he is holy. And thankfully, he is slow to anger.
Puritans weren’t content merely to defend doctrine from the pulpit; they sought to apply truth in the pews by engaging the hearts of their hearers.
Unlike the world and its character of sinfulness, the church is characterized by holiness.
We do not have to look far for examples of Christian nationalism emanating from the right. But equally troubling is the secular nationalism and state-driven civil religion that’s emerging from the left.
John D. Wilsey “God’s Cold Warrior”
The common thread from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries was the faithful, clear, passionate preaching of God’s Word combined with holding fast to the doctrine of justification by faith alone.
Although Nicholas is one of the most popular saints in the history of the church, there is next to no historically verifiable evidence regarding his life!
With one foot in systematic theology and the other in church history, historical theology can be the bridge to take our study of God to the past or our study of the past to God.
We’re beggars because the words of man will never fill our spiritual appetite. We need food from heaven. We need to hear from God.
If you’re someone who loves old books—because you love church history and want others to share your enthusiasm—group Bible study can seem like a balancing act between trying to be helpful on one hand and appearing prideful on the other.
“I know of no other couple in Christian history who loved one another more demonstratively than Charles and Susie Spurgeon.”
While we may grasp the need for running to Scripture as the source for our faith and practice, where are we looking for our family history?
One idea that has yielded dangerous consequences is the notion that the Council of Nicaea (AD 325), under the authority of Roman emperor Constantine, established the Christian biblical canon.
