Dr Paul Allen

Church history teaches us that conflict in church life is a reality. The disciples of Jesus disagreed with each other; the early church was fraught with division, and disunity has continued to be a recurring issue ever since. From petty controversies to serious errors, conflict is a regular feature of church life. While moral failings and heresy require church discipline (Matt. 18:15–17), how are we to tolerate differences over minor matters that do not warrant church discipline? We can learn a great deal from Paul in his letter to the Philippians on this issue. Rather than exposing the specifics of the controversy between Euodia and Syntyche, Paul winsomely reminds them of who they are before helping them resolve their disagreement. Remember That You Are Beloved of God Paul’s language in Philippians 4:1 is striking. He addresses the church at Philippi as “my brothers,” “whom I love” and “long for” and are “my joy and crown” who are “my beloved.” With candour, he reveals his heartfelt ...

The Vatican is equating the teachings of Jesus with those of Buddha in its first interfaith message since Pope Leo XIV’s election, signaling the pontiff’s desire for continuity with the dialogical approach of Vatican II and Pope Francis to the world religions. The pope’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue sent its greetings to Buddhists on Monday on the occasion of the festival of Vesak, likening Jesus's message in John’s gospel to the teaching of the Buddha in the Dhammapada—an anthology of teachings in the Buddhist canon. “The Buddha taught that, ‘he who is free from craving and attachment is perfect in uncovering the true meaning of the Teaching, and knows the arrangement of the sacred texts in correct sequence — he indeed is the bearer of his final body,’” the Vatican noted. “He is truly called the profoundly wise one, the great man” (Dhammapada, Ch. 24, V. 352),” the document, titled 'Buddhists and Christians in Liberating Dialogue for Our Time,” stated, marking the “sa...

It is the greatest civilization coup d’état of the 21st century — a seismic moral, cultural, social, and religious revolution that catapulted a fringe perversion to the status of a privileged orthodoxy. The staggering enormity of the gay guerrilla putsch punched me in the face when I saw an article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists titled “Queering nuclear weapons: How LGBTQ+ inclusion strengthens security and reshapes disarmament,” written to celebrate Pride Month last year. How did nuclear scientists suddenly come to the spine-chilling conclusion that the world is threatened by “vulnerabilities in nuclear decision making” if LGBTQI+ individuals are excluded from making decisions “by a homogenous, cis-heteronormative community of practitioners”? In November 2022, the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Nonproliferation decided to include LBTQ people in the nuclear weapons space. Immediately, laypeople began tweeting about it, saying things like, “They should not allow mentally il...

Watching the music video for the new song “Boys Will Be Girls” by former Caedmon’s Call lead singer Derek Webb, I experienced a strange mixture of disgust, pity, and clarity about the appeal of his message. That message, part of Webb’s new album, The Jesus Hypothesis, is anything but subtle: it’s a celebration of gender transition and drag, written in response to the coming out of a close friend. In the chorus, Webb sings, Where sometimes, boys will be girls Sometimes armour will be pearls What you put on, oh, it shows the world How hard you’re fighting Brother, sometimes boys will be girls Appealing to Jesus The video is, if possible, even more in-your-face. Webb goes under the brush for his own drag makeover by (self-described) “shame-slaying, hip-swaying heathen” singer-songwriter Flamy Grant (real name: Matthew Blake). It opens with a quotation by progressive pastor Stan Mitchell that reveals something of Webb’s evolved thinking on the church and LGBT+ issues: “If you claim to be s...

We are living in a time when nothing is true and when everything is true. Our current cultural mindset says that nothing is ultimately true. There is no absolute truth or objective reality. There is nothing to be known as it is because there is no such thing as knowledge. There are only perspectives, interpretations, experiences, feelings, and opinions. To claim that something is objectively true is in one sense the greatest heresy of our society’s preferred religion, which places self at the centre of the universe. But on the other hand, because nothing is objectively true, everything is true. Truth has been detached from objective reality, from what is, and now it simply is an expression of what one feels. And so whatever you feel is defined as your truth. This worldview has made its way into every form of media, into our educational institutions, into politics, into religion, into sports, and literally into every corner of our society. People can make the most outlandish claims, and...

Hell Is Awful What exactly are we talking about when we say “hell”? We hear the word used all the time in a street-level way—“What the hell . . . ?” “Hell no!” But when we stop and consider the actual reality of hell, beneath the irreverent and casual uses of the word, what do we find? Scripture teaches us these five truths and more about hell. 1. Hell Is Experienced by the Whole Person A common misconception is that it is only a person’s spirit or soul or mind that suffers in hell, once the body has been left behind. But the Bible’s teaching is that while those in hell now are indeed suffering without a body when the Lord Jesus returns everyone will be raised for judgment, and the impenitent will suffer in hell, body, and soul. In Matthew 5 , Jesus twice speaks of one’s “whole body” going to hell ( Matt. 5:29–30 ). In another place he warns us to “fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” ( Matt. 10:28 ). Humans sin against God with both their body and their soul; they suff...

The word “heresy” sounds bad to modern ears. It conjures images of Inquisitions, dour Puritans, or even matches and stakes. But heresy, strictly speaking, simply refers to beliefs that deviate from orthodox Christianity. And when large numbers of Christians start embracing heretical views, it’s a problem. That’s why the recent report on  The State of Theology  was concerning. It shows that Americans increasingly subscribe to unbiblical beliefs. And, sadly, Christians are no different. For instance, 73% of evangelicals agree that Jesus was created by God, a belief known historically as Arianism and condemned at the Council of Nicaea. The Holy Spirit is a force, not a personal being. At the same time, the survey found more uniformity among evangelicals when it came to their cultural and political beliefs. It seems politics is doing a better job of teaching us than the church.

The Arian controversy in the fourth century was arguably the greatest theological controversy in the history of the church. As Protestants, we might think that the Reformation controversies of the sixteenth century were the most momentous. Without wishing to minimize their importance, however, the Arian controversy was greater, because it went deeper.  The Reformers were arguing about how we receive the benefits of Christ; the men of the fourth century were arguing about something even more basic—who Christ is. Unless the right foundation is laid in the person of the Redeemer, little is gained in disputing about His benefits. The Arian controversy was sparked, not by Arius himself, but by the outstanding Christian thinker of the previous century, Origen (185–254). Origen had fought vigorously and successfully against one of the gravest threats to the orthodoxy of the third century—Modalism (or “Sabellianism”, after one of its leading advocates). Modalism tried to solve the mystery ...

What is the greatest Protestant Heresy ? Have a guess?  Cardinal Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621) was a figure not to be taken lightly. He was Pope Clement VIII 's personal theologian and one of the ablest figures in the Counter-Reformation movement within sixteenth-century Roman Catholicism . On one occasion, he wrote: "The greatest of all Protestant heresies is _______ ." Can you complete Bellarmine's statement? How would you answer? What is the greatest of all Protestant heresies? Perhaps justification by faith? Perhaps Scripture alone, or one of the other Reformation watchwords? Those answers make logical sense. But none of them completes Bellarmine's sentence. What he wrote was: "The greatest of all Protestant heresies is assurance ." A moment's reflection explains why . If justification is not by faith alone, in Christ alone, by grace alone — if faith needs to be completed by works; if Christ's work is somehow repeated; if grace is n...

Vasily Perov's painting illustrates clandestine meetings of Christians in pagan Kiev. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) A cts 20:7–35 “Fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them” ( vv. 29–30 ). Historically speaking, divergent viewpoints have existed within the church since the days of the apostles. Christians have always had to live in community with other believers who do not agree with them on every single point, and they have had to do so in a way that keeps “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” ( Eph. 4:3 ). As an example of this, Paul in Romans 14  clearly intends to bring civility to Christians who are arguing over matters of diet and calendar. No matter the particular issue, all disagreements occur only because one or more parties in the disagreement are at least partially in error. Both you and I can be wrong when we differ over something...