Dr Paul Allen

We live in an increasingly pluralistic society. Ironically, it tends to celebrate diverse religious views while criticizing attempts at religious conversion. Critics accuse evangelism of objectifying the people it seeks to convert. What should Christians make of this claim? To objectify people with our actions simply means to treat them as objects or tools rather than as persons. Often, it’s to use others as a means to an end rather than treating each and every human being as an end in and of themselves. If Christians fail to honour, respect, and love the person we’re witnessing, it’s possible we could be guilty of this charge. Chandler Moore However, we should also realize there’s nothing inherent to evangelism that objectifies people. Rather, evangelism respects the intelligence and agency of others while simultaneously considering them as immensely valuable individuals. Dignify Others Evangelism can and should be a holistic way of engaging others in an effort to convince them of wha...

When did you become a Christian?”  Generally speaking, there are two categories of conversion experiences recounted today. The first category consists of those who were reared in the Christian religion and confess to having believed so early on that they cannot remember a time when they were not believers.  The second category consists of those who heard the gospel and experienced the effects of regeneration later in life. These two categories—though they are perhaps the most common—do not make up the sum total of the way in which people experience conversion.  Therefore, we must not insist that Christians conform their understanding of conversion neatly into one of these two categories. Rather, we must allow for diversity in the ways that people experience conversion. Let’s consider a conversion that fits neither of the aforementioned categories. Joey was raised by churchgoing parents. Throughout his adolescent and young adult years, he had a number of conversion experie...

The difference between regeneration and conversion is a slight difference, but it’s an important one. Regeneration is the work of God the Holy Spirit as He supernaturally and immediately changes the disposition of the soul from spiritual death to spiritual life. Conversion is a result of regeneration. When we are converted, we’re turned around and we move in a different direction. Sometimes we get confused about this, because particularly when people give their testimony, they often say, “I was born again on February the 13th, 1975,” and so on. That person is testifying to a conversion experience. They may have been regenerated earlier than that but only became aware of their state of conversion at a later time. So I think it’s important that we make sure that we distinguish between those concepts.

John Calvin (1509–1564) is easily the most important Protestant theologian of all time and remains one of the truly great men who have lived.  A world-class theologian, a renowned teacher, an ecclesiastical statesman, and a valiant Reformer, Calvin is seen by many as the greatest influence on the church since the first century. Apart from the biblical authors themselves, Calvin stands as the most influential minister of the Word the world has ever seen.  Philip Melanchthon revered him as the ablest interpreter of Scripture in the church, and therefore labeled him simply "the theologian." And Charles Spurgeon said that Calvin "propounded truth more clearly than any other man that ever breathed, knew more of Scripture, and explained it more clearly." Calvin was born on July 10, 1509, to Gerard and Jeanne Cauvin in the French cathedral city of Noyon, some sixty miles north of Paris. Gerard was a notary, or financial administrator, for the Roman Catholic...

" Effectual calling " is the title of ch. 10 of the Westminster Confession (1647). The chapter begins: All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, He is pleased, in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation, by Jesus Christ ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and, by His almighty power, determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ: yet so, as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace.  What is described here is the process of Christian conversion , involving illumination, regeneration, and the transformation of the will.   It is a sovereign work of God, "effectually" (that is, effectively) performed by the power of the ...

Imagine the scene. A guy gets dropped off on a 140 by 30 mile island. With beautiful weather, rich agriculture, calm beaches, and mountainous landscape, it was, externally, a great place. However, as he spends time there, reality sets in. The island is inhabited by stiff-necked, unsaved religious people and liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons. There is no worse combination. The place is so debauched that even Greeks cringed at the thought of it. Later, he receives a letter which says, “I want a good church planted in every town on the island.” And, at that time, it’s likely that there were about 100 towns. This was the situation in which Titus found himself near A.D. 60 on the island of Crete, and for which Paul wrote the New Testament letter. Though Crete prided itself on once having advanced societies such as the Minoans, history records it was so bad in Titus’ day, that to be called a “Cretan” was to be called something like a liar or dru...