Heresies all around us – Subordinationism
Part 9 – Subordinationism We read in the Bible that Jesus voluntarily placed Himself under the authority of the Father. But could it be that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are subordinate in terms of their nature and in essence? This is what we are going to discuss today. Subordinationism Subordinationism teaches that Jesus (and […]
Heresies all Around us – Kenosis
Part 8 – Kenosis Did Jesus empty himself of divinity in the incarnation? In other words, did Jesus give up His deity when He became human? This idea is sometimes called kenotic theology. Confusing This word, kenosis, is confusing at best and misleading at worst. The word kenosis comes from the Greek kenoo, which mean […]
Heresies all Around us – Adoptionism
Part 7 – Adoptionism As far back as the second century, several groups already debated Jesus’ preexistence. One such group are called Adoptionists. They denied the preexistence of Jesus and, as a consequence, His deity. Jesus was tested by God According to these teaching, Jesus was just a human like you and I. Adoptionism, says […]
Heresies all Around us – Pelagianism
Heresies all Around us – Donatism
Part 5 – Donatism Is your baptism invalid if your baptiser was adulterer? Picture this: You decided to become a real follower of Christ. You realised that you needed to be baptist. That is your first step of obedience to Jesus. Your pastor was more than willing to baptise you. But, two weeks later you […]
Heresies all Around us – Modalism
Heresies all Around us – Antinomianism
Part 3 – Antinomianism Let’s ditch the Old Testament laws! We are no longer under the law, right? Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Still, in many churches, we find the commandments written on banners. What’s more, every Sunday many congregations […]
Heresies all Around us – Arianism
Heresies all Around us – Introduction
Part 1 – What is heresy? Jehovah’s Witnesses are like the Dutch people… You’ll find them all around the world. Please don’t complain about this comparison. I myself am Dutch. And I know, the Dutch mostly go around the world to do business, which can be good, right? The Jehovah’s Witnesses mostly go around to […]
95 theses by reformed pastor D.J. Budding
Jan van Meerten is the driving force behind the website Fundamentum (oorsprong.info). Jan’s work goes far beyond his website. He has always been very active in all kinds of study days and conferences. It is thanks to Jan that I get informed, on a regulart basis, about what is going on in the more Reformed […]
Apostasy in Church – 2
Apostasy in Church
73 Books of the Roman Catholic Bible
I never really bothered about the extra books in the Roman Catholic bible. I always thought that this was just about a dispute in the early church. But is it? Let’s find out. Many of our more respectable Bibles, such as the King James Version, Revised Standard Version, and the New International Version, have just […]
Respect Is Attractive: Women and Early Christianity
Article reposted with permission from ‘The Jesus Fandom’ Original can be found here and posted on 10 April 2023. Translated by Jurgen Hofmann. Introduction Globally, women are more religious than men. They see their faith as more important, tend to pray daily and attend church more than men. This is well reflected in church practice: […]
Sola Fide – Faith Alone
Why I don’t Debate Atheists
Why I don’t debate atheists? Well, that statement is not entirely true because, so now and then, I do respond on their remarks. However, I try to avoid these endless debates on forums, YouTube and other online platforms. You see, it is often a quite different situation if you meet someone in person, and it […]
Christian Stance on Abortion
In this series, we will discuss the Christian Stance on abortion. Many Christians are mute on this topic. This is unfortunate and unnecessary because there are good theological and reasonable arguments to take a firm stand in this debate. In this first part, I’ll lay out the lines along I would like to tackle this […]
Christ, not Caesar, Is Head of the Church
A Biblical Case for the Church’s Duty to Remain Open Christ is Lord of all. He is the one true head of the church (Ephesians 1:22; 5:23; Colossians 1:18). He is also King of kings—sovereign over every earthly authority (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14; 19:16). The Church should stand immovably on those biblical principles. As […]
And the Church Said Nothing…
Not a topic about apologetics this week. Something else got my attention. Last week I was reading the news items concerning my home country, the Netherlands. One article triggered my attention. It was an interview with a doctor about all the measures the government took and is still taking to prevent people from getting Corona. […]
Christian Stance on Abortion – Part 4 Compromise, Churches, Conclusion
Part 1 Terms Part 2 Human or Not Part 3 Dilemmas Part 4 Compromise, Church, Conclusion Part 4 — Compromise, Churches, and the Conclusion Welcome to the last episode of this series about the Christian stance on abortion. In part three we have discussed two dilemmas that so now and then happen. We’ve seen that […]
Christian Stance on Abortion – Part 3 Dilemmas
Christian Stance on Abortion – Part 2 Human or Not
Part 1 Terms Part 2 Human or Not Part 3 Dilemmas Part 4 Compromise, Church, Conclusion Part 2 — Human or Not Introduction Hi there! Welcome to the second part of this small series on abortion. I on purposely mention abortion in the first sentence of this video. Why? So nobody can mistakenly watch this […]
Christian Stance on Abortion – Part 1 Terms
Part 1 Terms Part 2 Human or Not Part 3 Dilemmas Part 4 Compromise, Church, Conclusion Part 1 — Clarifying the Terms Introduction Talking with my daughter is often an interesting experience. She is almost 17 and her view on the world isn’t much different from that of mine. However, the things that she reads, […]