A Podcast All About Christianity
As a Baptist, I was a little surprised to see Baptists grouped with Unitarians and Quakers in this video. But watching the video, it makes sense. What Ryan Reeves does is to look at the Anabaptists and how that movement affected other groups. Characteristics of Anabaptists found in later groups, even though those groups may … Read More “Unitarians, Baptists, and Quakers” »
I am a firm believer that Christians should have good handle on history, especially church history. You can find the audio of a course on Christianity Through the Reformation taught by Anthony Heideman at Front Range Community College on iTunes here.
Wherever one may be on the theological spectrum, there is no denying the importance of John Calvin or his best known work, Institutes of the Christian Religion. This is a book that I have planned to read for a long time but only recently finished. I’m not sure what I expected, but it was not … Read More “Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion” »
As a part of my preparation for a course on Romans that I’m teaching at Tyndale University College, I reread Martin Luther’s Commentary on Romans. This commentary is one of the most influential commentaries in Christian history. Much of Luther’s thought emerged out of his study of Romans and his reflections upon justification by faith. … Read More “Martin Luther’s Commentary on Romans” »
I have an interest in the French protestants known as the Huguenots. My family (on the Bedard side) are originally from La Rochelle, one of the Huguenots strongholds in France. While the Bedards were all Roman Catholic by the time they arrived in Canada, I suspect some were Huguenots. It was common for Huguenots to convert to Roman Catholicism … Read More “Who Were the Huguenots?” »
One of the most significant events post-Reformation for the history of theology was the teaching of Jacob Arminius. Arminius considered himself to be a true Calvinist, in the sense of being faithful to the teachings of John Calvin. However, Arminius developed a theology the reinterpreted the idea of predestination. Predestination was more about God having … Read More “Dutch Revolt and Arminianism” »
When people think about the Reformation, they often think about Martin Luther and John Calvin. They are very important, but less well known is Ulrich Zwingli. Zwingli was a contemporary of Luther and preceded Calvin. This short video will give you a nice introduction of Ulrich Zwingli.
With the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation, I felt compelled to do some reading on Martin Luther. I had a book on my shelf that had been there for a while and so I grabbed Roland Bainton’s Here I Stand. This is not a new book. Bainton died in 1984 and Here … Read More “Here I Stand – Review” »
We have just reached the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther posting his 95 theses on the Wittenberg Door and the start of the Protestant Reformation. Like many, I posted many links to my Facebook page of articles on Martin Luther. My observation is that articles on Martin Luther fell into two groups: those that praised him … Read More “Should We Celebrate Martin Luther?” »
Martin Luther is quoted as saying, “Reason is the enemy of faith.” That is a difficult statement for those who believe that Christianity is a reasonable faith. Like any historical inquiry, statements need to be examined in context. Roland Bainton puts Luther’s statement in perspective with this explanation: Luther often railed at reason, and he … Read More “Did Martin Luther Reject Reason?” »
