“Salvation for Heretics?”
by Andrew Harrison In his 2009 work Heresy, Alister McGrath attempts to define the essential nature of heresy. Along the way, however, he makes multiple statements that seem to indicate that heretical beliefs, while eventually destructive to their host belief system, usually originate from well-intentioned Christians who just happen to err, despite their best efforts to pursue right doctrine. This essay explains the non-traditional...
The Church in Light of the Trinity
What is the church? Is it a building? Is it a bride? Is it a body? Evidently it’s all of the above. Scripture gives us a myriad of pictures for how we might understand the gathering of believers (Eph. 2:21; 5:22-33, 1 Cor. 15:20-23).[1] Each picture offers a different perspective. But none of them describe the Church in her entirety. Throughout history, the church has been understood largely by her marks and/or attributes. According...
An Interview with Dr. Donald Whitney
I first came across Donald Whitney’s writings while taking an undergrad course on spiritual disciplines at Welch College. It was there that I read his premier work Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. I’ve since read the book numerous times—each time gaining a greater understanding of biblical spirituality. In many ways, Dr. Whitney’s book played a key role for me in better understanding how God uses His ordinary means of...
Pastoral Christology in Ignatius of Antioch
In light of the current political and social turmoil, some wonder if doctrines not directly applicable to apologetics or evangelism are really all that important. Rather than exploring the doctrines of the Trinity or Reformed Arminian soteriology, wouldn’t our time be better spent developing new outreach methods or political activist organizations? Keeping a fervent Gospel vision is essential. But believing the doctrines of the faith...
An Introduction to Textual Criticism
by Daniel Webster Textual criticism of Scripture has resulted in believers responding in a variety of ways. Among them are questions like: “Why would we want to be ‘critical’ of the Scriptures?” and, “Textual criticism undermines the infallibility of Scripture; I want nothing to do with it!” While we often think of the term critic as referring to someone who is judgmental, disapproving, or negative, we should not think of a text...
Kept for Jesus: A Review Essay
by Matthew McAffee [The following is an adaptation of a review recently published in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 58 (2015): 858-61] Kept for Jesus represents Sam Storms biblical-theological treatment of the Reformed doctrine of eternal security.[1] I appreciate his warm and approachable writing style, which produces a conversational tone for the book. In the introduction he outlines a two-fold...
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