There Is No Golden Age
What’s your ideal place or time in history? Maybe you’d enjoy the slow pace and small town charm of a place like Mayberry where things seem simpler and people seem kinder. Or maybe you’d prefer a more exotic setting like England during the age of Shakespeare. The past may not be your thing. You might prefer some time or place in the future when transportation is easier, cancer has been cured, and poverty has been greatly alleviated....
When General Baptists Became Particular Baptists
What happened in May 1755, significantly altered the early years of what would become southern Free Will Baptists, and nearly dealt their churches a lethal blow. Prior to the events that will be discussed below, Free Will Baptists were one of the most successful Protestant groups in the southern United States. That certainly changed in the following years. In May of 1755, Calvinist John Gano arrived at the General Baptist church near...
Confessions: What They Are and Why We Need Them
Free Will Baptist can sound a bit odd to those who have never heard the name before. When I announce that I’m a Free Will Baptist to Calvinist Baptists at Southern Seminary, I often receive questions such as, “What exactly is a Free Will Baptist?” or, “Do you all believe in Perfectionism like Wesleyans, or that Man’s will is totally free like Semi-Pelagians?” I do my best to quickly calm my classmates’ fears that a heretic, having...
Overthrowing the Serpent: Gregory of Nazianzus & Philanthropy
Christian philanthropy is no modern Christian invention or conviction. For early church theologian Gregory of Nazianzus (329/30–390/91), the eternal welfare of one’s body and soul hinges upon one’s loving care for the poor and oppressed.[1] Gregory is convinced that loving care for another’s physical needs, be they paupers or lepers, is a binding obligation on the believer. A failure to care for the oppressed is to have lost “sight of...
Where Grace Abounded Sin Abounded More?
In his 1611 work A Short and Plaine Proofe, Thomas Helwys argued against unconditional election and limited atonement. Helwys was convinced that these doctrines were not only unbiblical, but actually implicated God in man’s sin. What follows is a quite intriguing portion of his argument: Yet those of this opinion that hold God has decreed some to reprobation say he would not have all, but some to repent. If they would speak...
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