Dr Paul Allen

The nineteenth-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is famous for his declaration that “God is dead.” That brief dictum does not give the whole story. According to Nietzsche, the cause of the Deity’s demise was compassion. He said, “God is dead; He died of pity.” But before the God who was the God of Judeo-Christianity perished, Nietzsche said that there were a multitude of deities who existed, such as those who resided on Mount Olympus. That is, at one time there was a plurality of gods. All of the rest of the gods perished when one day the Jewish God, Yahweh, stood up in their assembly and said, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Hearing this, according to Nietzsche’s satirical summary, all of the rest of the gods and goddesses died. They died of laughter. In our day, where pluralism reigns in the culture, there is as much satirical hostility to the idea of one God as there was in Nietzsche’s satire. But today, that repugnance to monotheism is not a laughing matter. In ...

The Reformation principle of  sola Scriptura  has to do with the sufficiency of Scripture as our supreme authority in all spiritual matters.  Sola Scriptura  simply means that all truth necessary for our salvation and spiritual life is taught either explicitly or implicitly in Scripture. It is not a claim that all truth of every kind is found in Scripture.  The most ardent defender of  sola Scriptura  will concede, for example, that Scripture has little or nothing to say about DNA structures, microbiology, the rules of Chinese grammar, or rocket science. This or that "scientific truth," for example, may or may not be actually true, whether or not it can be supported by Scripture—but Scripture is a "more sure Word," standing above all other truth in its authority and certainty. It is "more sure," according to the apostle Peter, than the data we gather firsthand through our senses (2 Peter  1:19 ). Therefore, Scripture is the highest and s...

English: Postage stamp depicting Martin Luther, the initiator of the Protestant Reformation (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Many people might answer that question by pointing to Martin Luther and his 95 Theses. But if you were to ask Luther himself, he would not point to himself or his own writings. Instead, he would give all the credit to God and His Word. Near the end of his life, Luther declared: “All I have done is put forth, preach and write the Word of God , and apart from this I have done nothing. . . . It is the Word that has done great things. . . . I have done nothing; the Word has done and achieved everything.” Elsewhere, he exclaimed: “By the Word the earth has been subdued; by the Word the Church has been saved; and by the Word also it shall be reestablished.” Noting Scripture’s foundational place in his own heart, Luther wrote: “No matter what happens, you should say: There is God’s Word. This is my rock and anchor. On it I rely, and it remains. Where it remains, I, too,...

Image of "Dawn: Luther at Erfurt" which depicts Martin Luther discovering the doctrine of Justification by Faith. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The Protestant Reformation threw the Christian world into chaos. At the beginning of the 1400’s the Pope ’s authority was absolute and the only means of salvation were the sacraments given under his auspices. There was a secular/sacred distinction that was ironclad, meaning that the priests and laity lived in practically two separate worlds. There was no concept of church membership, corporate worship, preaching, or Bible reading in the churches. And as far as doctrine was concerned, there was no debate—the creeds and declarations from Rome (and soon to be Avignon) were the law. Things had been this way for six hundred years. In a world where life expectancy was in the 30’s, that is essentially the same as saying that the church had been in the dark forever. But if you fast-forward to the end of the 1500’s, all of that had b...

Sola Scriptura and Therefore Charismatic Author: Cripplegate. Dr. Brown opens Chapter 6 by recounting his testimony as to why he believes healings and tongues are for today. He begins by telling about his coming to faith in Christ when he was 16 at a Pentecostal church . However, expectations of healing and supernatural happenings that never really materialized in his immediate circles caused him disillusionment. He left the Pentecostal church in 1977 and began pursuing Reformed, cessationist theology, [ AF,  164]. Becoming influenced by such books as B.B. Warfield’s  Counterfeit Miracles,  he swiftly separated himself from his early experience as a Pentecostal. When his sister-in-law was miraculously healed of an elbow injury, however, even having her injury called out from an audience of thousands by the speaker, Brown began to reevaluate his hard-heartedness toward miracles he had developed from his cessationist leaning ways. He then experienced his...

Image of the Dutch Reformation iconoclasm (Beeldenstorm) Image from: De eerste jaren der Nederlandsche Revolutie (1555-1568), Elsevier, Rotterdam 1882 Reproduction in: Het beleg van Haarlem; Haarlem's heldenstrijd in beeld en woord 1572-1572, F. De Witt Huberts, Oceanus, 1944 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Rome never questioned the authority of Scripture or the inerrancy of Scripture. Both are widely disputed in Protestantism generally, and increasingly in evangelicalism particularly. If we lose the authority of Scripture and the sufficiency of Scripture , then what's the point? There would be no point in trying to understand what we believe and why we believe it—no point in even talking about a Gospel because there would be no authority for this Gospel. Then justification is as much up for grabs today as it has ever been. Evangelicals believe that they save themselves with God 's help. Do your best. That's why Jesus is no longer seen as the only way, truth, and li...

Icon depicting the First Council of Nicaea. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Sola Scriptura emerged from the Reformation and simply means that all truth necessary for our salvation and spiritual life is taught either explicitly or implicitly in Scripture. It is not a claim that all truth of every kind is found in Scripture. The most ardent defender of sola Scriptura will concede, for example, that Scripture has little or nothing to say about DNA structures, microbiology, the rules of Chinese grammar , or rocket science. This or that "scientific truth," for example, may or may not be actually true, whether or not it can be supported by Scripture—but Scripture is a "more sure Word," standing above all other truth in its authority and certainty. It is "more sure," according to the apostle Peter , than the data we gather firsthand through our senses ( 2 Peter 1:19). Therefore, Scripture is the highest and supreme authority on any matter on which it speaks. B...

Cover via Amazon Although it came out in 2004, Sarah Young’s devotional has seen a steady increase in popularity over the last two years. Published by Thomas Nelson , The Jesus Calling has to be one of the more popular devotionals today. If you are not familiar with it, The Jesus Calling is a collection of transcribed messages that were given verbatim from Jesus to Sarah. As such, they are all in the first person from Jesus’ perspective. Here is a typical example (from the day I wrote this review): (July 8) “When you seek my face, put aside thoughts of everything else. I am above all, as well as in all; your communion with me transcends both time and circumstances. Be prepared to be blessed bountifully by my Presence, for I am a God of unlimited abundance. Open wide you heart and mind to receive more and more of Me. When your Joy in me meets my Joy in you, there are fireworks of heavenly ecstasy. This is eternal life here and now: a tiny foretaste of what waits you in the life ...