Dr Paul Allen

“Blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” “It is certain because it is impossible.” “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” Such tart epigrams are typical of the works of Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus —or Tertullian. A native of Carthage, he had been reared in a cultured pagan household and trained in the literary classics, speech making, and the law. About 196, when he turned his powerful intellect to Christian topics , he changed the face of thinking and literature in the Western church . Up to this point, most Christian writers had used Greek—a flexible, subtle language, perfect for philosophizing and hair splitting. And often the Greek-speaking Christians carried this bent for philosophy into their faith. Though the African Tertullian knew Greek, he preferred writing in Latin, and his works reflect the Latinspeaking Romans’ practical, morals-oriented streak. This influential lawyer drew many other writers to his favorite language. While Greek Christi...

Have you ever looked at passages of Scripture that speak of God ’s decree as eternal, unconditional, unchangeable, and exhaustive. As a result, we concluded that God is properly said to be the ultimate cause of all things. Immediately, this raises the question: How can God be the cause of actions and events that are evil and sinful —things which God Himself prescribes against—and yet not be rightly charged with unrighteousness? Some people answer this question by appealing to the notion of divine “permission.” In other words, though God is ultimately in control, He doesn’t ordain evil; He merely allows it. I don’t find this kind of explanation convincing for two reasons. God’s Decree and Divine “Permission” The fundamental meaning of “permission” is “not to hinder what has, or appears to have, a tendency to take place” (Edwards, Concerning the Divine Decrees). The concept of permission is used this way in Scripture (e.g., Mark 10:14 ), and even the etymology of the English word t...