Apologetics to the Glory of God

Tag: Church History

  • Debate Announcement

    On Februrary 5th, I will be debating Roman Catholic Dan Marcum (a Skype debate) on the proposition “Sola Scriptura is an essential Christian doctrine, and necessary for instruction in faith and practice“. My goal is to argue this proposition presuppositionally. I’m planning on a couple of podcasts in the near future to give the audience some preparation, and to ensure my opponent knows where I’m standing, going into the debate, so stay tuned.…

  • Debate News

    Due to issues encountered with resuming the debate, and an inability to resolve the difficulties posed by the inordinate time taken for the first portion; we’re just going to post the completed portion sometime today. If you haven’t heard, the debate clocked in at an astonishing 8 hours – and we had only reached question 10 in my opponent’s *first* cross-examination period. Since he is unwilling to accept time limitations for the remainder, I think it’s best to just end things here, as he didn’t show up this morning (our time) as invited. If he’d like to submit his remaining …

  • In Preparation for Next Weekend's Debate: Islam's Problem

    Courtesy of David Wood, ABN, and AOMin, this video covers most of my points I’m going to bring up. I’m posting it in hope that my opponent will come prepared for the issues I’m going to be raising!

    Note: Just something to keep in mind, I obviously won’t appeal to “brute facts” as David does here – but the information is valuable, nonetheless.…

  • Upcoming Debate: "Is the Qur'an the Word of God?"

    Participants: Joshua “RazorsKiss” Whipps vs Yasser “MusLm” Ali
    Moderator: Paul LaChapelle
    Date: October 2nd
    Time: 12pm EDT
    Location: #choosinghats IRC channel, on starlink-irc.org – see “Chat” page for details.
    Format: 3000 word opening statements, 2000 word Rebuttals, 2 Rounds of Cross-Examination (25 questions per debater, per round), 1500 word closing statements, Q&A session (as time permits)

    The room will be moderated for the duration of the debate. The audience will be able to submit questions for the Q&A, to be presented in the final session, time permitting.…

  • Nature Grace Dualism (Part 2)

    Nature Grace Dualism Part 1

    Nature Grace Dualism Part 2

    The presence of nature grace dualism throughout Roman Catholicism has resulted in a host of worries. Goldsworthy quotes Vittorio Subilia’s observation that Roman Catholicism is marked by “a phenomenon of complexio oppositorum.”  The claim is an historical one supported by the evidence of Roman Catholic syncretism. While Gnosticism and mystery religions are cited as examples of non-Christian systems of thought that have at times been adopted by Roman Catholicism and blended in with Christian categories the non-Christian systems of thought stemming directly from philosophy are perhaps more interesting to …

  • Is Presuppositionalism new?

    Earlier today I saw this tweet: “Reformed appologists defend presuppositionalism evn though as a system it’s new but condemn dispensationalism on the same grounds. arbitrary”

    I would beg to differ, and strongly. First, this objection is to the *Scriptural* grounds of the system. This is not something I find compelling, or accurate – and I don’t enjoy seeing presup alongside dispensationalism in that regard, honestly.

    “All the nations have gathered together so that the peoples may be assembled. Who among them can declare this and proclaim to us the former things? Let them present their witnesses that they may

  • Eternal Sonship, Incarnational Sonship, Church History and Apologetics

    Donald Macleod asks, “Granting, however, that there is a real personal distinction between the Father and the Son, is the sonship eternal?” (Macleod 127)

    The answer to the question is “Yes”. Those who are new to doctrinal discussions concerning the Trinity and Jesus Christ may sometimes find it difficult at first to understand how Jesus, the Son of God, has always been the Son. The issue is by no means a new one.

    It was the rise of Arianism that forced the issue into prominence, because it called in question not so much the sonship of Christ as his eternal

  • Did the Fathers Know the Gospel?

    T4G 2010 -- Session 7 -- Ligon Duncan from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

     

     Recommended Texts:

    The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations (Hardcover) – Michael W. Holmes

    Early Christian Doctrines: Revised Edition – J. N. D. Kelly

    Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of our Faith – 3 Vol set by David T. King and William Webster

    The Great Jesus Debates: 4 Early Church Battles About the Person and Work of Jesus – Douglas W. Johnson…

  • Church History and Apologetics Classes

    Recently, I had the opportunity of teaching two classes for my local church, on the subjects of Church History and Apologetics.

    Chris asked me to post them, so here they are!

    Note: I wasn’t professionally recorded – I did it myself – so the quality is only so-so.

    Church History: I used a primarily biographical method in teaching a quick overview of the history of the Church – and it’s isn’t nearly as comprehensive as many classes might be. It’s only 12 sessions, so I obviously had to go fairly quickly. This was taught as an introduction to the …