Dr Paul Allen

Of the 47 statements included in The State of Theology study for 2016, undertaken in partnership with LifeWay Research , the responses to one statement stood out. Most of the responses tended to even out over the spectrum. Each statement tended to garner slight majorities. The results show slight majorities either getting a belief right or, in most cases, getting a belief wrong. But not statement 17, "Even the smallest sin deserves eternal damnation ." This one sparked a reaction. Glancing at the graph of the data shows this response not to be a simple majority , but rather a whopping majority. 61% strongly disagree. Another 12% disagree somewhat and 7% are not sure. That leaves only 21% agreeing with this statement. We need to interpret this data. Eight out of ten Americans have an incorrect view of sin. As an implication, we could say that eight out of ten Americans do not know the biblical God. More on that later. The responses on this particular statement get even mor...

At the very heart of the controversy in the sixteenth century was the question of the ground by which God declares anyone righteous in His sight. The psalmist asked, "If you, O Lord , should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" (Ps. 130:3). In other words, if we have to stand before God and face His perfect justice and perfect judgment of our performance, none of us would be able to pass review. We all would fall, because as Paul reiterates, all of us have fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). So, the pressing question of justification is how can an unjust person ever be justified in the presence of a righteous and holy God ? The Roman Catholic view is known as analytical justification. This means that God will declare a person just only when, under His perfect analysis, He finds that he is just, that righteousness is inherent in him. The person cannot have that righteousness without faith, without grace, and without the assistance of Christ . Nevertheless...

Reviewed version of Eastern Orthodoxy in Europe (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The author, Daniel Clendenin, writes to introduce Western Christians to the mysterious world of Eastern Orthodoxy . He describes his approach as “not uncritical, but … nonpolemical.” Translation? He takes a rather friendly view of Eastern Orthodoxy, lumping it together with Protestantism and Roman Catholicism as “three siblings of the same family.” Given that foundational caution, however, the book can be a helpful introduction to Eastern Orthodoxy. The first two chapters list reasons why Western Christians ought to study the Eastern church and provide a brief sketch of Eastern church history. The next four chapters are the heart of the book, each one focusing on a main area of Eastern theology and tradition that Western Christians often find to be strange. The first is the apophatic approach to knowing God , which derides logic and rational analysis and exalts unknowable mystery. The second is icons, ...