Author: Richard

  • Anglican/Episcopal Theology

    Richard

    The Anglican denomination derives from the Church of England. Churches that began as part of the Church of England tend to be called Anglican and those that formed outside of the Church of England but held to the same doctrine and liturgy tend to be called Episcopal. Care must be taken to distinguish between a… Read more

  • Baptist Theology

    Richard

    There are an estimated 170 million people in the world who identify as Baptist. The defining belief of Baptists is that infants should not be baptized. Baptism requires the full immersion of a confessed believer. This is referred to as a believer’s baptism. Although the Anabaptist movement also rejected infant baptism, its influence on the… Read more

  • Pentecostal Theology

    Richard

    Pentecostalism had its humble beginning in Topeka Kansas. In 1900, Charles Fox Parham started Bethel Bible School, of which he was the only teacher. A few years earlier, both Parham and his son had fallen ill. He refused all medical treatment and placed his faith in the Holy Spirit’s power of divine healing. At Bethel, he… Read more

  • Fundamentalist Theology

    Richard

    The term fundamentalism can apply in a general religious sense and also in a specific Christian sense. In a general sense, Rik Peels characterizes fundamentalist movements as exemplifying the following: (1) a rejection of liberal ethics; (2) a literal and infallible view of authoritative texts; and (3) an interpretation of events in a grand narrative of… Read more

  • Evangelical Theology

    Richard

    The term evangelicalism derives from the Greek word euangélion (εὐαγγέλιον), literally means good news. In Old English Bible translations, euangélion was translated as gōdspel (gōd = good + spel = news). Middle English Bible translations modified this to gospel, which is still used in modern translations. In terms of etymology, evangelicalism and gospel are synonymous… Read more

  • The Origen of Man

    Richard

    The primary components to the theology of man’s origin are that God created man, that God created man in His own image, that mankind is elevated above the lower animals, and that each person consists of a physical body and a spiritual soul. God says, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our… Read more

  • The Nature of Man

    Richard

    Scripture teaches that a human has both an earthly element and a spiritual element. The earthly element is our physical makeup and something we share with the lower animals. The spiritual element relates to what the Bible refers to as our soul and/or our spirit. There are two main theological opinions with regards to soul… Read more

  • Man as the Image of God

    Richard

    The very first chapter of Genesis has God saying, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Gn 1:26). Mankind being made in the image of God is commonly referred to by the Latin phrase imago Dei. But what does being made in the image of God mean, and does being made… Read more

  • Fallen Man

    Richard

    As discussed above, man was originally created “very good” and therefore had original righteousness. Adam and Eve then directly disobeyed God’s command in eating the forbidden fruit and thereby committed the first sin. The serpent temps them by saying they can become like God, but the original sin was disobedience. Genesis describes the direct impact to Adam and… Read more

  • Sin and the Impact of Sin

    Richard

    Sin can be thought of in a philosophical sense and in a moral sense. Philosophical explanations of sin seek to answer metaphysical questions such as whether it is a privation, a defect, a negation, a physical or spiritual essence, a selfish feeling, and so forth. Although intellectually interesting, philosophical theories about sin are only of secondary… Read more