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Ekklesia in Pre-Christian Greek Literature
The Greek word ἐκκλησία (transliterated as ekklesia in English) fundamentally meant “a duly summoned assembly or gathering” (from ἐκ “out of” + καλέω “to call”) throughout its history in pre-Christian Greek literature. This usage is thoroughly documented in classical authors (5th–4th centuries BC) long before Jesus employed it in Matthew 16:18 (spoken circa 30 AD, […]
Textual Variants, Preservation of Scripture, and the Westminster Assembly (Part Four)
Part One Part Two Part Three Westminster Confession of Faith 1.8 in the section on the Holy Scriptures reads: The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of God of old), and the New Testament in Greek (which, at the time of the writing of it, was most […]
Steps in the Right Process for Belief Change (Part Two)
Part One Change, Sanctification, and God’s Purpose The Bible says change is God’s purpose for people. The Apostle Paul in a pivotal moment in his epistle to the church at Rome, writes (Romans 8:28-30): 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the […]
Jesus, the Mystery Form of the Kingdom, and Last Things
A Tipping Point Israel as a whole and its religious leaders rejected Jesus Christ with chapter twelve of Matthew the deciding juncture, a tipping point. They said that Jesus cast out demons by Beelzebub. The Lord declared that it was the treasury of their heart out of which they made that pronouncement about Him. Jesus […]
The Historical Story of External Factors Perverting the Meaning of Church
The New Testament Meaning of Church God revealed His Word, which is the special revelation of every and all of His Words by God the Spirit through human authors. Those words communicate plainly the will of God to man, including the nature of the church. The church is what scripture says it is through its […]
Faith in God and the Sufficiency of the Church
Pleasing God by Faith In a now very familiar verse, James writes in James 2:19: Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Someone may say that he has faith, but what is the […]
The Sinner’s Prayer Absent From Evangelism in Church History
Is the sinner’s prayer a methodology for evangelism present in the overwhelming majority of church history? No. Some time ago I read Dr. Paul Chitwood’s 2001 Ph. D. dissertation The Sinners Prayer: A Historical and Theological Analysis (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2001). It is a valuable historical analysis of the development of the evangelistic methodology […]
Mark Ward / Thomas Ross Videos on King James Version English
As What is Truth? readers may know, Dr. Mark Ward, Bob Jones University graduate and Logos Bible software employee, produced a series of three videos (5/2/2024; 5/9/2024; 5/16/2024–note that I am making it quite easy to find his videos if you want to do so, while he made it difficult to locate the video of […]
On the Lord’s Day, Turn Apps & Email Off On Your Cell Phone
On the Lord’s Day, consider turning off apps, email, and whatever else you can on your cell phone. The first day of the week, Sunday, is not the Sabbath, but there are principles from Israel’s Sabbath that are appropriately applied to the first day of the week, the day of Christian worship, the Lord’s Day […]
Reformed Systematic Theology v. 1, Joel Beeke & Paul Smalley
I recently finished reading Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley, Reformed Systematic Theology vol. 1: Revelation and God (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019). I had purchased it on Logos Bible Software and, because I thought it had lots of good features, also purchased a physical copy with Reformation Heritage Books (which may be cheaper than […]
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