The Beginning of Fundamentalism: The Niagara Bible Conference
Spiritual forces were at work in nineteenth century Western society to undermine biblical authority and dash the blessed hope of the church upon the rugged terrain of unbelief. The twin knock-out blows dealt to the Christian denominations were Darwinian evolution and historical criticism. The only force standing in bold opposition…
Say What? A Terrible “Bible” Argument
I recently came across an argument by a professing Christian who was attempting to refute a fundamentalist (i.e. someone who believes the Bible) with what amounts to a full frontal assault on sola scriptura. It is a weak assault, but an assault nonetheless. It goes like this: “Christ Himself is…
The Bible, Our Sole Authority
What is a Baptist? As a church-planting missionary in a majority Catholic country, I frequently need to give a brief explanation of what constitutes a Baptist. The answer is quite simple. But as the common saying goes, the devil is in the details. A Baptist is one who accepts the…
Balthasar Hubmaier: Zealous Defender of Truth
Dr. Balthasar Hubmaier was an Anabaptist reformer and arch-heretic of the Catholic Church. This Catholic priest turned reformer began as a promising student and preacher. At some point he had a genuine regeneration experience and gained the spiritual clarity to begin a “Back to the Bible” movement in the small…
Remembering Dr. David F. Capetz
February 13, 1948 – August 22, 2021 On August 22, Dr. David Capetz went home to be with His Lord. Dr. Capetz was a family man, a Christian educator, founder of the IBNet website, and my mentor and friend. A mutual friend recently told me how he considered himself to…
Adoniram Judson: Man of Conviction
Adoniram Judson is perhaps the most famous Baptist foreign missionary. He caused a sensational stir when he changed his Congregational paedobaptist convictions to become a committed Baptist. He is widely regarded as the father of American foreign missions. This title is appropriate because he was the first vocational missionary, and…
Grace and Truth
The beginning of Jesus' ministry is generally regarded as His baptism at the hands of John the Baptist. By the time Jesus stepped into his baptism line, John had built a truly massive ministry. (Matthew 3:5) The Lord had commissioned him to preach a message of forward looking repentance to…
Christ’s Appearing for His Church, Part II
Promises Regarding the Appearing of Jesus Christ for His Church Without doubt, the Old Testament prophets predicted the general truth of both the first and the second comings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because both comings were at that time yet future, the prophets delivered the messages without wholly understanding…
Christ’s Appearing for His Church, Part I
“…Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Positions Regarding the Appearing of Jesus Christ for his Church Our generation…
Praised, Yet Awful: A Review of Philip Yancey’s What’s So Amazing About Grace?
In my discussion earlier in this series of Paul's seminal statement, Ye are not under the law, but under grace I mentioned Philip Yancey's influential book, "What's So Amazing About Grace?" I alluded to the fact that it, along with a few other original works and a whole bunch of…