Tag Archives: Church History

Hymns sifted in Satan’s sieve of suffering

Hymns sifted in Satan’s sieve of suffering

In the midst of difficult days, it is helpful to learn from those saints who have endured hard times before us. We are self-centered enough to think that our personal plight is exceptional, when in reality it is not. Paul Gerhardt, born in 1607, was a Lutheran pastor. Today he is remembered best for his… Continue Reading

What I’ve missed while not gathering with my local church (Part 3)

What I’ve missed while not gathering with my local church (Part 3)

This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series What's missing in virtual church You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

The novel coronavirus has resulted in a time where many churches have been unable to gather. This has been unprecedented for most of us alive today. Many churches have opted for a virtual or streaming ministry. Others have encouraged family worship, or sent pastoral guidance to church members to follow. As I have repeatedly said,… Continue Reading

Why We Should Study the Liturgical Story of the Christian Faith

Why We Should Study the Liturgical Story of the Christian Faith

Studying the liturgical history of the Christian faith paints a necessary picture of what Christians have truly believed throughout history, perhaps in some cases more so than studying their creeds. This history helps us obey God’s command given in Job 8:8–10: For inquire, please, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have searched out.… Continue Reading

How Liturgy Tells the Story of the Christian Faith

How Liturgy Tells the Story of the Christian Faith

There are many valuable ways to study the history of the church; church historians often trace the development of creedal theology, recount the lives of key theologians and church leaders, or study significant events in the life of the church. Each of these is a valuable way to understand how we arrived where we are… Continue Reading

Book Announcement: Understanding Affections in the Theology of Jonathan Edwards: “The High Exercises of Divine Love” by Ryan J. Martin

Today marks the release of my first book, Understanding Affections in the Theology of Jonathan Edwards: “The High Exercises of Divine Love.” (Amazon Link | Bloomsbury Link) | ISBN 9780567682246). T&T Clark (a subsidiary of Bloomsbury) is publishing it as part of their series T&T Clark Studies in Systematic Theology. I want to give glory to… Continue Reading

Love for Christ & Scripture-Regulated Worship 5: Christ’s Authority 3

Love for Christ & Scripture-Regulated Worship 5: Christ’s Authority 3

This entry is part 5 of 8 in the series Love for Christ & Scripture-Regulated Worship You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

My initial post in this series introduced the idea of worship regulated by Scripture alone (also known as the Regulative Principle of Worship). The second post considered important arguments for the Regulative Principle. The third introduced the argument for the Regulative Principle from Christ’s authority. This argument consists of several subpoints. First, I showed how the New Testament teaches that… Continue Reading

Christian Culture in Church History

Christian Culture in Church History

This entry is part 31 of 63 in the series Ten Mangled Words You can read more posts from the series by using the Contents in the right sidebar.

A common error in the study of church history is to seek to find a version of one’s present branch of Christianity in the past. Since Christian doctrine and practice develop over the centuries, trying to find oneself in church history is like trying to find out how people in Shakespeare’s era texted one another,… Continue Reading

Roger, Roger | Part Four: Today’s Situation

Roger, Roger | Part Four: Today’s Situation

A few weeks ago, Roger Olson of Baylor University devoted a blog post to asking “What Is ‘Fundamentalism?’” By way of contrast he was also trying to say how fundamentalism differs from evangelicalism. He used Edward John Carnell’s critique of fundamentalism as the fulcrum of his argument. Olson did not mention that Carnell’s “Exhibit A”… Continue Reading

Roger, Roger | Part Three: Necessary Qualifications

Roger, Roger | Part Three: Necessary Qualifications

Kevin T. Bauder [Editor’s note: A technical difficulty prevented last week’s essay from being emailed. Part Two of this series can be found on Central Seminary’s website.] Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been responding to Roger Olson, who teaches at Truett Seminary (Baylor University). Not long ago Roger blogged about the difference between… Continue Reading

Roger, Roger | Part Two: Fundamentalism and New Evangelicalism

Roger, Roger | Part Two: Fundamentalism and New Evangelicalism

Kevin T. Bauder I am responding to colleague Roger Olson who, in a recent blog post, attempted to articulate the difference between fundamentalism and evangelicalism. His argument relied upon an old critique in which Edward John Carnell labeled fundamentalism as “cultic orthodoxy.” My first step was to flesh out Carnell’s critique by placing it in… Continue Reading

Roger, Roger | Part One: Edward John Carnell

Roger, Roger | Part One: Edward John Carnell

I appreciate many aspects of Roger Olson’s work. He has written a clear exposition of Arminian theology that I require my students to read. He can show civility and charity toward those with whom he disagrees. We are on opposite sides of certain issues, but I know him to be a man of both clarity… Continue Reading

Concluding Thoughts on the NTAIBC and the FBFI

Concluding Thoughts on the NTAIBC and the FBFI

Kevin T. Bauder Over the past several weeks I’ve been writing about the founding of the New Testament Association of Independent Baptist Churches and the renaming of the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship from the old Conservative Baptist Fellowship. This is not ancient history, but it is history that has been largely forgotten. Many younger leaders who… Continue Reading

The NTAIBC and the FBF

The NTAIBC and the FBF

Kevin T. Bauder The New Testament Association of Baptist Churches voted itself into existence and adopted a constitution in 1965 at Beth Eden Baptist Church in Denver. The occasion was a gathering of the Conservative Baptist Fellowship, which set aside time during its meeting to initiate the new association. That summer, B. Myron Cedarholm resigned… Continue Reading

The Beginnings of the New Testament Association

The Beginnings of the New Testament Association

Kevin T. Bauder By the early 1960s three issues divided the Conservative Baptist Movement. First was the question of separation, especially in view of neoevangelicalism and Billy Graham’s tactic of “cooperative evangelism.” Second was eschatology—many Conservative Baptists had moved away from pretribulationism, and some had abandoned premillennialism. Third was the relationship between the agencies (such… Continue Reading

The Conservative Baptist Conflict

The Conservative Baptist Conflict

Kevin T. Bauder The Conservative Baptist Movement formally began when the Fundamentalist Fellowship organized the Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission Society in 1943. The CBFMS was originally meant to function within the convention, but it was rapidly rejected by convention officials who effectively disenfranchised its supporters. In response, the Fundamentalist Fellowship renamed itself the Conservative Baptist… Continue Reading

Corrigendum

Corrigendum

Kevin T. Bauder In a recent edition of “In the Nick of Time,” I wrote about the founding of the New Testament Association of Independent Baptist Churches and the renaming of the Conservative Baptist Fellowship to the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship. The CBF was the parent organization of both the NTAIBC and the FBF(I). Unfortunately, I… Continue Reading

Augustine on that which deserves the name “love”

Augustine on that which deserves the name “love”

Too often, contemporary Christianity sees all emotions or affections as essentially equal. For this reason, many conclude as long as some kind of religious emotion is evoked, some good has been done. Augustine did not believe that all loves were equal. In fact, he distinguished between different kinds of genuine spiritual love. This comes out… Continue Reading

Edwards on the proportion of reverence to boldness

Edwards on the proportion of reverence to boldness

For those who have not (yet) read it, Edwards’s Religious Affections argues what are the proper marks of a genuine work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the regenerate. Edwards believes that the affections a saint has for God and divine things are of a particular kind, and that such affections are a necessary part of… Continue Reading

John Wesley on how the Bible regulates affections

John Wesley on how the Bible regulates affections

The authority of Scripture is of utmost importance to those of us who write here on the Religious Affections blog. The Bible regulates our doctrine, our practice, and even our love. We do not believe our love is arbitrary, to be expressed by our natural whim and fancy. We refuse to believe every theological concept… Continue Reading