Church Theology

John Seel suggests survival strategies - communication on-ramps for genuine human connection with the next generation. It can be done.

Liberating God: What the Church Doesn't Teach About the Bible is a no-apologies proclamation of the gospel found throughout all of scripture. The message of the Bible is not two separate messages, one old and one new. The Bible preaches one coherent, unbroken gospel throughout its pages. From the story of Moses and the Exodus; from prophets like Jeremiah to kings like David; from tales like Jonah and the Whale to parables told by Jesus; even letters from Apostle Paul, all share the same good news of a liberating God.

Why does church government matter? In this book, Guy Prentiss Waters offers a brief and accessible introduction to Presbyterianism that shows how a well-ordered church fosters Christian lives lived well. In making the case that church government is critical to Christian discipleship, Waters presents an overview of the nature of the church (the body and its member) and its structures of authority (officers, assemblies, and ordination). He concludes by answering common questions people raise about church government.

En 2001, Kathy Baldock, una cristiana evangélica conservadora y heterosexual, conoció a Netto Montoya, una aborigen americana lesbiana, mientras estaba haciendo senderismo en las caminerias cercanas a su casa en las montañas de Sierra Nevada. Su amistad desafió las creencias culturales y religiosas de Baldock sobre las personas gay, lesbianas, bisexuales y transgénero.

In the first part of the book, he proves that the perseverance by which a man perseveres in Christ to the end is God’s gift; for that it is a mockery to ask of God that which is not believed to be given by God. Moreover, that in the Lord’s prayer scarcely anything is asked for but perseverance, according to the exposition of the martyr Cyprian, by whose exposition, the enemies to this grace were convicted before they were born.

We know with certainty regarding Athenagoras that he was an Athenian philosopher who had embraced Christianity and that his apology, or as he styles it, “Embassy”, was presented to the Emperors Aurelius and Commodus at about AD 177. He is supposed to have written a considerable number of works, but the only other production of his extant works is his treatise on the Resurrection. 

Imagine local churches filled with people from all cultures, generations, hues, and backgrounds - each one a true cross-section of its own neighborhood or city demographics. Imagine these churches enjoying rich fellowship internally, providing substantive ministry externally, and attracting a not-yet-believing world to the promise of the gospel. That would be a church like heaven on Earth. And Beard believes any local congregation can attain this. This audiobook provides theology, story, and practical insights for how your church can be that kind of remarkable.

Female habit carries with it a twofold idea - dress and ornament. By “dress” we mean what they call “womanly gracing”; by “ornament”, what it is suitable should be called “womanly disgracing”. The former is accounted (to consist) in gold, and silver, and gems, and garments; the latter in care of the hair, and of the skin, and of those parts of the body which attract the eye.

It happened very recently, a dispute was held between a Christian and a Jewish proselyte. Alternately, with contentious cable, they each spun out the day until evening. By the opposing din, moreover, of some partisans of the individuals, truth began to be overcast by a sort of cloud. 

The Shows or De Spectaculis, also known as On the Spectacles, is a treatise by Tertullian. Written somewhere between AD 197-202, the work comments on issues and consequences related to the attendance of circus, theatre, or amphitheater ("the pleasures of public shows"). Tertullian’s views of these public performances in the theatre are that they are immoral and lead to corruption. 

Whatever noxious vapors, accordingly, exhaled from philosophy, obscure the clear and wholesome atmosphere of truth, it will be for Christians to clear away, both by shattering to pieces the arguments which are drawn from the principles of things - I mean those of the philosophers - and by opposing to them the maxims of heavenly wisdom - that is, such as are revealed by the Lord; in order that both the pitfalls wherewith philosophy captivates the heathen may be removed, and the means employed by heresy to shake the faith of Christians may be repressed. 

A Letter of Augustin to Boniface, who, as we learn from Epistle 220, was Tribune, and afterwards Count in Africa. In it, Augustin shows that the heresy of the Donatists has nothing in common with that of Arius; and points out the moderation with which it was possible to recall the heretics to the communion of the Church through awe of the imperial laws. He adds remarks concerning the savage conduct of the Donatists and Circumcelliones, concluding with a discussion of the unpardonable nature of the sin against the Holy Ghost.

As persecutions in increasing number threaten us, so the more are we called on to give earnest thought to the question of how faith ought to receive them, and the duty of carefully considering it concerns you no less, who no doubt, by not accepting the Comforter, the guide to all truth, have, as was natural, opposed us hitherto in regard to other questions also.

The Apology (Latin: Apologeticum or Apologeticus) is Tertullian's most famous work, consisting of apologetic and polemic. In this book, Tertullian defends the Christian Church, demanding legal toleration and that Christians be treated as all other sects or religions of the Roman Empire. It is in this treatise that one finds the phrase: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." 

In which the author gives a concise account of, together with sundry caustic animadversions on, the very fantastic theology of the sect. This treatise is professedly taken from the writings of Justin, Miltiades, Irenæus, and Proculus.

Praxeas was a Monarchian from Asia Minor. He believed in the unity of the Godhead and vehemently disagreed with any attempt at division of the personalities or personages of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the Christian Church....

This was written by our author in confutation of certain heretics who denied the reality of Christ’s flesh, or at least its identity with human flesh - fearing that, if they admitted the reality of Christ’s flesh, they must also admit his resurrection in the flesh; and, consequently, the resurrection of the human body after death.

This among Christians is a season of persecution. When, therefore, faith is greatly agitated, and the Church burning, as represented by the bush, then the Gnostics break out, then the Valentinians creep forth, then all the opponents of martyrdom bubble up, being themselves also hot to strike, penetrate, kill.

The Multipynaz series of books are designed to help fuel the movement of God through the people of God. This first book was written with a team of 60+ Nazarene leaders participating. It celebrates how God is increasing the Nazarene commitment to multiply, the foundations for how the movement has grown to over 30,000 churches globally, the main message of holy love, the focus on “outsiders”, why Nazarenes practice interdependence, steps to building a contagious church culture and more.