Dr Paul Allen

Recent years have witnessed a growing debate over classical theism—the doctrine of the triune God found in the Nicene Creed, the Definition of Chalcedon, and in the Reformed confessions. Authors such as James Dolezal in his book All That Is in God have pointed out how prominent evangelical and Reformed theologians are redefining and/or rejecting various elements of the classical doctrine of God such as the attributes of simplicity, immutability, and impassibility. Many Christians, however, wonder whether this debate has any relevance outside the ivory towers of academia.  How does understanding attributes such as divine simplicity or immutability or eternity help me to share the gospel with my lost neighbour who has never opened a single theological book in his life?  These kinds of questions are unfortunate, but they are also entirely understandable. For centuries now, serious theology has been divorced from the life of the church and is considered to be only an academic disc...

The most common question I’ve gotten over the years since I became a pastor, “How do I evangelize my Roman Catholic loved ones?” Though I did not grow up Roman Catholic, I was born and raised in Rome, Italy and have a passion to see Roman Catholics come to know the true Jesus. Because of this, I have decided to move to Italy as a missionary. I recently taught a class on the subject and I share it with you with the desire that it would help you grow in your ability to share with and in your love for the Roman Catholics God has sovereignly placed around you.

At some point, if you are sincere about your Christian faith , you are going to have a conversation with someone about it. Or are you? Let me back up a minute, if “being a Christian” is something you take seriously, you are probably going to THINK about having a conversation with someone about it. AND – you may wonder HOW to have that conversation. Listen, I have been a Christian my whole life and have also been a thoughtful student of the human art of conversation for years and I find this thing – “sharing my faith” – incredibly hard to do. But I WANT to – I really want to . I actually believe that meeting Jesus on this side of heaven will make life richer and more joyful and more peaceful than anything else available to us. There is a tenacity and fierceness to God ’s love through Jesus that holds people firmer in the face of life’s struggles than anyone can imagine. I want everyone to know this. Everyone. Well, the key is figuring out how to start, how to continue the conversa...

One writer in a psychological journal pondered what makes humans distinct from beasts. After discarding several possibilities—tool usage, language, ability to think—the author concluded that humans seem to be the only creatures who care about what makes them distinct. On the surface, the outstanding trait of humanity is culture. Not everyone agrees. Some claim beasts have cultures: chimpanzees “harvest” termites with a “tool”—a stripped tree branch wrought by their own hands; termites cultivate mushrooms for consumption; birds create species-specific nests; whales sing. But such simple, largely instinctive practices (which neither change nor improve over time) hardly compare with humankind’s achievements. Beasts haven’t any arts or technologies, scientific institutes or historical archives, philosophers or physicians. Apparently culture is a distinguishing mark of humankind. But what makes humans creatures of culture? Why has every recorded human society—however primitive—indulged a...

Jesus is considered by scholars such as Weber to be an example of a charismatic religious leader. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Romans 10:15 “How are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” ( v. 15 ). Evangelism is the term we use to refer to the preaching of the Gospel . It comes from the same Greek word for gospel (euangelion) and means, literally, “gospeling.” When we evangelize we are “gospeling” — we are spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ . Evangelism is one way in which we can fulfill Christ ’s call to be His witnesses ( Acts 1:8 ). In biblical categories, witnessing involves making visible what is otherwise invisible. The reality to which we bear witness is the invisible kingdom of God , and in witnessing we strive to make the Lord’s reign visibly manifest. Among the many ways we can bear witness to Jesus is through loving our fellow believers. We reveal to the world that we belong to our Savi...