This is the eighth in a series of articles on the Trinity, excerpted from What Every Christian Should Know About the Trinity, available by contacting the MBC or through Amazon. The Bible consistently declares there is one true and living God, the self-revealed Creator who alone must be loved and worshiped. All other gods are false. The physical depictions of these gods, as carved images or naturally occurring phenomena such as stars and trees, in fact represent demons (see Deut. 32:16-17; … [Read more...]
How Scripture uses the word ‘God’
This is the seventh in a series of articles on the Trinity, excerpted from “What Every Christian Should Know About the Trinity,” available by contacting the MBC or through Amazon. To avoid confusion when exploring the Trinity, we need to understand three different ways the Bible employs the word “God” and the way we use it in our theology. Otherwise, we may be tempted to see the Trinity as three gods. First, there are references to God as Father. The New Testament often uses this approach … [Read more...]
MBC releases new book on the Angel of the LORD
JEFFERSON CITY – The Missouri Baptist Convention, through its High Street Press imprint, has released a new resource for personal or group study titled Jesus Before Bethlehem: What Every Christian Should Know About the Angel of the LORD. Written by the MBC’s Rob Phillips, the 338-page book explores dozens of Old Testament appearances by a figure often identified as “the angel of the LORD.” This figure not only speaks for God; he speaks as God. He appears as a man, a voice from heaven, a … [Read more...]
Mo. Baptist apologists to discuss inerrancy
JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri Baptist apologists Dave VanBebber and Adam Cochrun are engaging two professors at Southern Evangelical Seminary (SES) in a live-streamed dialogue April 27 about approaches to the doctrine of biblical inerrancy. VanBebber and Cochrun, active members of the Missouri Baptist Apologetics Network, are scheduled to discuss this topic with Richard Howe, professor emeritus of philosophy and apologetics at SES, and Adam Tucker, director of recruiting and admissions for the … [Read more...]
The failure of analogies
This is the sixth in a series of articles on the Trinity, excerpted from “What Every Christian Should Know About the Trinity,” available by contacting the MBC or through Amazon. In seeking to simplify the complex truth of one God in three persons, Christians sometimes resort to analogies – the comparison of two things for the purpose of explanation or clarification. While analogies applied to the Trinity seem helpful on the surface, they fail to do justice to our infinite and eternal God. … [Read more...]
False views of the Trinity
This is the fifth in a series of articles on the Trinity, excerpted from “What Every Christian Should Know About the Trinity,” available by contacting the MBC or through Amazon. As we pursue a biblically faithful understanding of the Trinity, it may help to sort through a number of false views of this crucial doctrine. Some faulty definitions are grounded in misunderstanding, such as the Muslim view that Christians are polytheists for worshiping God, Jesus, and Mary. Others are subtler … [Read more...]
Is the Trinity a late invention?
This is the fourth in a series of articles on the Trinity, excerpted from “What Every Christian Should Know About the Trinity,” available by contacting the MBC or through Amazon. Some critics of the Trinity doctrine protest that it is a late invention, formulated only after the Roman Emperor Constantine, a convert to Christianity, decreed an end to all persecution of Christians in AD 313 and convened the first ecumenical council at Nicaea in AD 325. But the charge of doctrinal invention … [Read more...]
Three simple truths about the Trinity
Consider three simple truths the Scriptures teach about the Trinity: 1. There is only one true God. 2. The Father is God; the Son is God; and the Holy Spirit is God. 3. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct, but inseparable, persons who exist simultaneously. 1. There is only one true God. Christians do not worship three gods; that’s polytheism. We do not worship one God made up of three parts; that’s tritheism. Nor do we exalt God as a lone actor who wears three different masks; … [Read more...]
Defining the Trinity
How do we biblically define a term that never appears in the Bible? As Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, and others are quick to point out, the word Trinity is conspicuously absent from the pages of Scripture. Therefore, they argue, to embrace such a term goes against the Bible’s clear teaching. Not so fast. While it’s true the term Trinity is not found in English Bible translations, that doesn’t mean the doctrine is missing in action. We might point out that phrases such as “the second … [Read more...]
Why study the Trinity?
Would it surprise you to know that six out of 10 U.S. adults say the Holy Spirit is a force, not a personal being? Or, more shocking, that 78 percent of Americans with “evangelical beliefs” agree with the statement that Jesus was the first and greatest being created by God the Father? These views, part of Ligonier Ministries’ 2018 State of Theology survey of 3,000 Americans, expose the soft underbelly of evangelical Christianity in our country. If Jesus is God’s first and greatest … [Read more...]
Ready Conference at Midwestern Seminary equips youth to defend their faith
Midwestern Seminary welcomed over 1,000 students from more than 90 local and regional churches on Jan. 24-25 for its annual Ready Conference, which exists to equip the youth of the church to defend their faith. This conference—which is based off of Jude, verse 3—encourages students to be ready to defend “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints”—featured main sessions from speakers Sam Bierig, Cam Triggs, Jared Bumpers, and Noe Garcia, and included a number of breakout … [Read more...]
Host an apologetics workshop at your church
2019 was a busy year for Christian apologetics in Missouri Baptist churches. Not only did the Missouri Baptist Apologetics Network complete its fifth year of service with 16 certified pastors and lay leaders, but I was privileged to speak 65 times in 26 different locations throughout the year – including apologetics events in Florida and California. Just to be clear, Christian apologetics simply is offering a reasonable defense of the Christian faith. The English word “apologetics” comes … [Read more...]
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