Dr Paul Allen

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (v. 14). We have seen that Roman Catholics and Lutherans believe Christ is physically present in the elements of the Lord’s Supper . Roman Catholics teach transubstantiation — the bread and the wine become the physical body and blood of Jesus. The Lutheran position, sometimes called consubstantiation, is similar, but different — Jesus’ physical body is present in, with, and under the elements of the sacrament. Yet both positions make a basic christological mistake. Explaining this requires a brief look at the Christology of the Council of Chalcedon, called in AD 451 to defend the orthodox view of the person of Christ. The council sought to answer the question: What happened when the Son of God became incarnate? Chalcedon could not give an exhaustive explanation, but the church un...

emblem of the Papacy: Triple tiara and keys Français : emblème pontifical Italiano: emblema del Papato Português: Emblema papal. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Prior to dispensational theology, there was not a focus among theologians of identifying a singular antichrist. It was widely if not universally held that anyone who opposed the gospel was  an  antichrist. But based on the  the  in 1 John 2:22 and 1 John 4:3 (“the antichrist”), as well as the prophecy of “the man of lawlessness” (2 Thess 2:3), church leaders for the last 500 years have generally held that whomever the Pope was at the time, that person fills the roll of the antichrist. It was not believed that there necessarily was a once for all antichrist, as Revelation implies, but rather the focus was on the leader of those who oppose the gospel. And it would be difficult to think of a group that has opposed the gospel (salvation by faith alone in Christ alone, through grace alone) to the ext...

Christ the Saviour (Pantokrator), a 6th-century encaustic icon from Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai. NB - slightly cut down - for full size see here (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” ( v. 14 ). The Roman Catholics and Lutherans believe Christ is physically present in the elements of the Lord’s Supper . Roman Catholics teach transubstantiation — the bread and the wine become the physical body and blood of Jesus. The Lutheran position, sometimes called consubstantiation, is similar, but different — Jesus’ physical body is present in, with, and under the elements of the sacrament. Yet both positions make a basic christological mistake. Explaining this requires a brief look at the Christology of the Council of Chalcedon , called in AD 451 to defend the orthodox view of the person of Christ. The council sought to answer the ...

Karl Barth (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) It’s not just what we say, but how we say it, that matters. Peter reminds us to be “always prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame” ( 1 Pet 3:15-16 ). We have to be ready with arguments and reasons, but we have to give thought also to how we present them. Good Arguments First and foremost we need to avoid the ubiquitous ad hominem (“to/concerning the person”) variety—otherwise known as “personal attacks.” Poor papers often focus on the person: both the critic and the one being criticized. This is easier, of course, because one only has to express one’s own opinions and reflections. A good paper will tell us more about the issues in the debate than about the debaters. (This of course does not rule out relevant biographical informat...

Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia By  William Cavanaugh Russell Blackford's article  is a well-intentioned effort at achieving a workable  modus vivendi  in a world where atheists, Catholics , Muslims and others must all learn to get along. His solution is a familiar one: let's take what divides us - religion, defined as beliefs about otherworldly matters - and privatize it. We can then all agree in public, at least in principle, on merely worldly matters. Blackford's argument is based on a familiar "Just So" story about European history: once upon a time Catholics and Protestants started killing each other over religion. The secular state saved the day by making religion a private matter. Locke is the hero here for conceptualizing this amicable division: the church would stay out of politics, and the state would stay out of religion. And they all lived happily ever after. Unfortunately, this tale does not become more true simply by being repeated. It is ...

Image via Wikipedia Polls taken by George Barna and George Gallup reveal an alarming intrusion of pagan ideas into the beliefs of modern Christians . A majority of professing evangelicals agree with the statement that human beings are basically good, a clear repudiation of the biblical view of human fallenness. The irony here is that while we decry the baleful influence of secular humanism on the culture, we are busy adopting secular humanism’s view of man. It is not so much that the secular culture has negotiated away the doctrine of original sin, as that the evangelical church has done so. Nowhere do we find more clear evidence of the impact of secularism on Christian thinking than in the sphere of anthropology. Christian anthropology rests not merely on the biblical concept of creation, but on the biblical concept of the fall. Virtually every Christian denomination historically has some doctrine of original sin in its creeds and confessions. These confessional statements do not...