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Reason for Corruption?
One possible reason for corruption of the patristic church was the influence of outside religions, particularly the idol-heavy pagan religions: C. Guignebert, in an illuminating article, [FN 59] points out that for the first five centuries many converts from paganism to Christianity lived a sort of double religious life, which made them what he calls…
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Responding to Tyler Vela on Genesis 1
Tyler Vela has some “Responses to Common YEC Arguments” to which I offer the following rebuttal points. The common argument is in bold, Tyler’s response is quoted, and my response follows Tyler’s comments. 1. OEC’s are intimidated by secular scientists and so they reject what they know the text says. This is condescending at best.…
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Responding to Patrick Madrid's Claims about Athanasius and Sola Scriptura
Patrick Madrid in “Envoy for Christ” accuses us of selective patristic quotation. He writes: Sometimes Protestant apologists try to bolster their case for sola Scriptura by using highly selective quotes from Church Fathers such as Athanasius, John Chrysostom, Cyril of Jerusalem, Augustine, and Basil Caesarea. … These quotes, isolated from the rest of what the…
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Response to Robert Morey's "Tough Love' Lecture
Dr. Robert Morey directed me to his lecture “Tough Love.” The general theme of the lecture is that appeasement is not an effective solution to terrorism. As far as it goes, I certainly agree with that general theme. Moreover, there are certainly some true statements in the lecture, such as that the position of Christians…
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Sola Scriptura in Athanasius: "On the Incarnation of the Word"
The sequel to “Contra Gentes,” Athanasius’ “On the Incarnation of the Word” picks up where the prior work left off (link to detailed discussion of Sola Scriptura in Contra Gentes). He already has proven the divinity of the Word, but now he’s going to discuss how the Word became flesh. There are 57 sections to…
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Sola Scriptura and Alexander of Alexandria "The Deposition of Arius" (Possibly Athanasius)
Around A.D. 320-324 Alexander of Alexandria sent out a letter regarding “The Deposition of Arius” (available from the CCEL here) As Athanasius was Alexander’s right hand man at the time and because the arguments are similar to Athansius’ own later arguments, it is believed Athanasius may have possibly authored the letter. What does this letter…
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Veneration of Images – Affirmative Constructive
The question today is whether image veneration is Biblical and Historical. Well, of course, in a sense it is. In Genesis 31 we have the first reference to people having “gods” when Rachel stole them from her father’s house. Then, in Genesis 35 we have the first purge of them. Jacob hid them under the…
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Further Evidence of Jesus' Divinity from the Modern Versions
Jude 5 provides another evidence of Jesus’ divinity in the modern versions. In the KJV, Jude includes the following pair of pericopes: Jude 3-7 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend…
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Another Evidence of Jesus' Divinity from the Modern Versions
John 14:14 provides another evidence of Jesus’ divinity that is not found in the King James Version. Now, even the KJV at John 14:14 includes an evidence to Jesus’ divinity, as can be seen in the following, Jesus’ teaches us to pray in Jesus’ name, something that would be inappropriate if Jesus were not divine:…
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Critical Text: Extra Evidence of Jesus' Divinity
Listening to someone preaching from the gospels, I noticed an interesting evidence of Jesus’ divinity I had previously overlooked. I generally use the King James Version, but this pastor was using the ESV or some other modern translation based on the critical text. In this particular passage, the critical text underlying the ESV is different…