The Bible & Evolution: Can we believe both?
Posted on April 21, 2007
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by Matt Clifton
One of the most dangerous things Christians can do is to try to make the Bible conform to the will of the world. One area we see this happening is in evolutionary theory and the fact that there are a lot of religious people, including Christians, who are being swayed by the idea that, “I can believe in the Bible and evolution too!” Some believe that perhaps God used evolution to bring about His creation.
However, if we look at plain statements and logical concepts contained in God’s word, we see that this concept is not true, and that a literal six-day creation by God is the only sound way to interpret the account of creation in Genesis, leaving no room at all for man’s theory of evolution.
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Fund created for Winkler children
Posted on April 21, 2007
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Friends of Dan and Diane Winkler (Matthew’s parents) have created a trust fund for Matthew and Mary Winkler’s three children, who are now living with their grandparents. If you are interested in giving for the future care of these children, visit The Winkler Family Fund.
Is Peter ‘the rock?’
Posted on April 19, 2007
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by Matt Clifton
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the
kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. — Matthew 16:18-19 (KJV)
The section of scriptures in Matthew 16:18-19 is probably among the most hotly debated passages in the New Testament. Due to an apparent reference to Peter as “the rock” upon which Christ would build His church, some in the religious world believe this passage is evidence for the superiority of Peter over the other apostles, and that this passage shows support for Peter as the first “pope.” Other views aver that it is Peter’s confession of Christ as the Messiah that is “the rock” Christ speaks of as the foundation for His church. Still others say that “the rock” of Matthew 16:18 is Christ Himself. One scholar even seems to indicate that possibly both Peter and his confession are “the rock” (Guthrie, p. 31). Which view is correct?
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Augustine: Connecting Link Between Gnosticism and Modern Calvinistic Theology
Posted on April 19, 2007
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by Matt Clifton
There can be no doubt about the fact that among all the early Christian writers, Augustine has had the greatest impact on modern theology.aa Not only did his writings and theological development shape later doctrines and methods of the Roman Catholic Church, but his work also deeply influenced the Protestant Reformation. John Calvin’s TULIP was significantly indebted to Augustine for such doctrines as Total Depravity, Irresistible Grace and Perseverance of the Saints, each having its roots firmly in Augustine’s theories of original sin and man’s lack of freewill.
But were Augustine’s theories derived directly from scripture, or was he influenced by extra-biblical teachings?
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a- David W. Bercot, Will The Real Heretics Please Stand Up, Tyler, TX: Scroll, 1999, 137.aaa
Tradition and History of the Early Churches of Christ in Central Europe
Posted on April 18, 2007
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Thanks to the kind permission of Firm Foundation Publishing, we are pleased to present Tradition and History of the Early Churches of Christ in Central Europe. This work is written by Dr. Hans Grimm, translated by Dr. H.L. Shug, and published by Firm Foundation Publishing House, PO Box 610, Austin, TX 78767. No Bible study library is complete without this book, and it makes a good “handout” on church history. Please contact Firm Foundation for printed copies of this book.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Biographical Sketch of the Author
- The Church of Christ
- The Sects
- Course of the Church Through the Centuries: 350-800 AD
- Course of the Church Through the Centuries: 800-1071 AD
- Course of the Church Through the Centuries: 1071-1143 AD
- Course of the Church Through the Centuries: 1143-1400 AD
- Course of the Church Through the Centuries: 1400-1800 AD
- Course of the Church Through the Centuries: 1800-1955 AD
- Bibliography
Tradition and History: Biographical Sketch of the Author
Posted on April 18, 2007
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Biographical Sketch Of The Author
(1 of 10 chapters. See Table of Contents at Bottom. First published by Firm Foundation, 210876, Bedford TX, 76095-7876)
Hans Godwin Grimm, Kanalgasse 28, Biel (Switzerland), was born at Sablon-lez-Metz, Lorraine, son of the late Gustaf Grim, last bishop of the church of Christ in Alsatia. He was married July 9, 1948, to Ilse Hildegard Kohler of Leipzig, Germany.
His publications include Djinnistan (Lorch, 1918); Islamische Mystik (Dusseldorf, 1919); Sturmvolk (Leoben, 1920); Ludendorff (Hamburg, 1921); Die junge Republik (Konigsberg, 1924); Der ostpreussische Bauernkrieg (Konigsberg, 1925); Das Raesel des Chassidismus (Bin., 1931); Anglo-Israel und die verlorenen Staemme (Bin., 1932); and Der Weg der Gemeinden Christi (Mannheim, 1958).
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Tradition and History: The Church of Christ
Posted on April 18, 2007
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The Church Of Christ
(2 of 10 chapters. See Table of Contents at Bottom. First published by Firm Foundation, 210876, Bedford TX, 76095-7876)
It has always been a real church of Christ in this world since Pentecost, and this means: a church believing in faith, repentance, confession and immersion for the remission of sins””a church which worshipped at least the first day of the week, with hymns, prayers, the Lord’s Supper, Bible study and contributions for the saints””a church which worked under the oversight of bishops, deacons, and evangelists””a church””not some isolated seekers, but an organized church, which trusted in the Lord’s promise that “the powers of death will never prevail against it.”
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Tradition and History: The Sects
Posted on April 18, 2007
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The Sects
(3 of 10 chapters. See Table of Contents at Bottom. First published by Firm Foundation, 210876, Bedford TX, 76095-7876)
The evil of sectarianism, as if mocking at all the prophecies of the apologists and symbolists of the turn of the century, is still increasing rather than decreasing in this twentieth century. In Germany, for example, the number of known sects increased from 83 in the year 1898 to 272 in 1957 (and how many sects-of-five-men, or better said sects-of-five-women there are of whom at most only the very nearest neighbors know). In Holland the number of sects grew from 160 to 348; in the United States from 162 to 247; in South Africa even from 32 in 1909 to 783 in 1956; and in Brazil the development went even more rapidly from 9 in 1907 to 821 in 1957. And all these numbers are based on very incomplete statistics.
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Tradition and History: AD 350-800
Posted on April 18, 2007
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The Course Of The Church Through The Centuries
350 to 800 AD
(Dates are highlighted in red)
(4 of 10 chapters. See Table of Contents at Bottom. First published by Firm Foundation, 210876, Bedford TX, 76095-7876)
When the persecution of the powers of state and of the organized church of that time violently rooted out not only the Arianists of the Eastern Kingdom but also the Donatists and Novatianists of the Western Kingdom, then perished also many churches who had held fast to the teaching of the mountain land of Galilee and to the ordinances of the times of the apostles; they perished before the fanaticism and officiousness of the persecutors. These persecutors classed the genuine and sincere Christians who were striving to remain with the Old Paths right along with the heretics who were after money. In Syria, for instance, genuine disciples were burned to death along with dualistic Marcionites or Manicheans””in Armenia and Northeast Asia Minor that bordered on Armenia. They rooted out their churches under the pretext that their churches had succumbed to the sun-worship of the Avards. The persecutors hunted them out on the Galatian plateau at the same time as the Antinomianist of Messalism and stoned them to death or burned them alive along with these heretics. Yet no power could stop the course of the church of the living God. By families and by groups Christians who were concealing themselves from the executioners settled the inaccessible oases of Northwest Arabia, concealed themselves in the almost waterless wadis of the Sinaitic Peninsula, fled into the chaotic cities of the Nile delta that were heated by the Arian and Meletian controversies, they emerged in the hinterland of Cyrenaika, on the island of Djerba near the Tunisian coast, and in the High and Lower Atlas mountains.
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Tradition and History: AD 800-1071
Posted on April 17, 2007
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The Course Of The Church Through The Centuries
800 to 1071 AD
(Dates are highlighted in red)
(5 of 10 chapters. See Table of Contents at Bottom. First published by Firm Foundation, 210876, Bedford TX, 76095-7876)
About the beginning of the ninth century the fire of persecution became enkindled which rose from year to year. In 813 the Christians in Cappadocia were also exterminated through mass executions, those in Armenia fearfully decimated. When at the attempt to seize a group of fleeing believers in the passes of the Taurus Mountains two imperial commissioners were pushed into the precipice in the panic and perished, entire churches fled as one to the region of Mohammedan feudal lords in Aserbeidschan and Kurdistan so that, at their being sheltered by the Emir of Argaum, the city Tephrika had to be built close to the Byzantine boundary. The walls and battlements of this city, which the Byzantine persecutors of heretics themselves called “Christianopolis” (City of the Christians), became the protective castle of all the persecuted, no matter what their religion was. For besides the Christians, there were fleeing to this stronghold on the border also adherents of false doctrines: Manicheans, Jacobites, Nestorians, Messalians, Bardaisanites; for the persecution by the emperors and bishops of Anatolia raged fearfully against all who did not submit to the state church, for they were considered as allies of Islam which was knocking at the doors of the empire. According to estimates of Armenian and Byzantine chroniclers, up to the year 843 some 100,000 heretics in Asia Minor and Northern Syria were executed or perished in flight.
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« go back — keep looking »Polls
What do you think of Quail Springs' decision to add intrumental music to the worship?
- I'm a member of the church of Christ, and the decision is wrong. (65%)
- I'm a member of the church of Christ, and the decision is no big deal. (16%)
- I'm not a member of the church of Christ, and the decision is no big deal. (10%)
- I'm not a member of the church of Christ, and the decision is wrong. (4%)
- I'm a member of the church of Christ, and I'm not sure. (3%)
- I'm not a member of the church of Christ, and I'm not sure. (0%)
Total Votes: 211
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