Dr Paul Allen

As typically defined, gender dysphoria is a state of consciousness that consists at its core of a qualitative feeling of a discordant “gender identity.” According to the common understanding, the individual has an “inner” self that has a gender or sex that’s different from what the body indicates, and hence the individual feels like—and in stronger cases believes him or herself to be—a woman trapped in a man’s body, or vice versa. The cultural upheaval surrounding gender and sexuality presents many challenges for Christians and pastors. Have we done the theological reflection that’s necessary to respond carefully and pastorally? Do we have thoughtful theological responses to questions like, “Could God create someone whose inner self is one gender and place that individual in a body of the opposite gender?” Answering thoughtfully will mean exploring our underlying assumptions about the human constitution. Are we purely physical bodies? Are we a combination of body and soul? Does our hum...

The fall of Satan and his angels are shrouded behind a veil and cloaked in mystery.1 Throughout the history of the church, Christian orthodoxy has regarded the devil and his minions as angels who were created by God but fell into sin and misery. William Gouge (1575–1653) wrote, “The devils by creation were good angels, as powerful, wise, quick, speedy, invisible, and immortal as any other angels.”2  The Puritans believed that demons shared the same nature as angels, but through rebellion against God, they became subject to divine judgment. When these angels fell, Gouge said, “They lost not their natural substance, and essential properties thereof, no more than what man lost when he fell. . . . Only the quality of his nature and properties is altered from good to evil.”3  Accordingly, the Westminster Larger Catechism aptly states, “God by his providence permitted some of the angels, willfully and irrecoverably, to fall into sin and damnation, limiting and ordering that, and all...

In Romans, Paul affirms that all mankind is naturally under the guilt and power of sin, the reign of death, and the inescapable wrath of God (Rom. 1 :18, 19; 3:9, 19; 5:17, 21). He traces this back to the sin of the one man Adam, whom he describes as our common ancestor (Acts 17:26; Rom. 5:12-14; cf. 1 Cor. 15:22). Paul as an apostle has given this authoritative interpretation of the history recorded in Gen. 3, where we find the account of the Fall, the original human lapse from God and godliness into sin and lostness.  The main points in that history, as seen through the lens of Paul 's interpretation, are: 1. God made the first man the representative for all his posterity, just as He was to make Jesus Christ the representative for all God's elect (Rom. 5:15-19; cf. 8:29, 30; 9:22-26). In each case, the representative involved those whom he represented in the fruits of his personal action, whether it was for their wealth or their woe. This divinely chosen arrangement, w...