Dr Paul Allen

St Lawrence and Pelagius (Photo credit: Lawrence OP ) Historians believe that Pelagius was born in Britain around the year 354. We know little about his early years, but do know that at some point he became a monk and in that capacity journeyed to Rome. While in Rome, Pelagius began to write theological works, though, except for a few fragments, these have been lost and are known to us only through quotes in the writings of those who refuted him. He began to promote a rigorous asceticism, apparently out of concern for the moral laxity he saw among many Roman Christians. This austere lifestyle made him attractive to many Romans and he soon gained a considerable following. One person in particular, a lawyer named Celestius , became a devoted follower and promoter of Pelagius’ teachings. It is said that at one time Pelagius heard a quote from Augustine ’s Confessions—“Command what you will, and give what you command”—and blamed such teaching for the lack of morality in the church. H...

Santa Jesus (Photo credit: agitprop ) In Dr. Sinclair Ferguson 's book, In Christ Alone , he shares the sad reality that many Christians have a Christology that is more informed by Santa Claus than Scripture. For them, the message of the incarnation has been so twisted or diluted that they have in fact created for themselves a savior who is nothing more than a Santa Christ. As you prayerfully read Dr. Ferguson's words, ask yourself the following question this Christmas season: "Do I believe in a Santa Christ?" 1. A Pelagian Jesus is a Santa Christ Santa Christ is sometimes a Pelagian Jesus. Like Santa, he simply asks us whether we have been good. More exactly, since the assumption is that we are all naturally good, Santa Christ asks us whether we have been "good enough." So just as Christmas dinner is simply the better dinner we really deserve, Jesus becomes a kind of added bonus who makes a good life even better. He is not seen as the Savior of h...

Image via Wikipedia Many of you would, no doubt, agree that there is a great need to recover the gospel in our age.  In order to begin moving out of the present state of chaos in the church, we need to subvert many of the false narratives borrowed from the world that have taken hold of us.   The intent of this book is both to dismantle one of these core inconsistent narratives in light of Holy Scripture and then replace it with a consistent and biblical one.  I will propose that one of the most dominant reasons for the current downgrade in the Church is the presuppositional lens through which Scripture is read called "libertarian freedom".  To begin to understand the full extent of the crisis we must begin here. As we define and then closely explore the problems with libertarian free will we will not only expose its outright errors but perhaps even more importantly, its inconsistencies which may have previously gone unnoticed by some. This will help us all th...

Image via Wikipedia Many of you would, no doubt, agree that there is a great need to recover the gospel in our age.  In order to begin moving out of the present state of chaos in the church, we need to subvert many of the false narratives borrowed from the world that have taken hold of us.   The intent of this book is both to dismantle one of these core inconsistent narratives in light of Holy Scripture and then replace it with a consistent and biblical one.  I will propose that one of the most dominant reasons for the current downgrade in the Church is the presuppositional lens through which Scripture is read called "libertarian freedom".  To begin to understand the full extent of the crisis we must begin here. As we define and then closely explore the problems with libertarian free will we will not only expose its outright errors but perhaps even more importantly, its inconsistencies which may have previously gone unnoticed by some. This will help us all th...