Category History

Abortion funding, war funding, and inconsistencies

9 April 2010 Anabaptist, Nonviolence, Theology  3 comments

Thursday afternoon, I was listening to Tuesday's broadcast of Dr. Albert Mohler's radio program via podcast. I like to check out some of his shows because he always has relevant topics, presents his take on it, and interacts with callers and

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Dordrecht Confession of 1632, Article II

8 April 2010 Amish  One comment

Article 2: Of the Fall of Man

We believe and confess, according to the holy Scriptures, that these our first parents, Adam and Eve, did not continue long in this glorious state in which they were created, but that they, seduced by

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Dordrecht Confession of 1632, Article I

5 April 2010 Amish  One comment

Article 1: Of God and the Creation of All Things
Since we find it testified that without faith it is impossible to please God, and that he that would come to God must believe that there is a God, and that He is a rewarder of them that

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Because words matter

12 March 2010 Anabaptist, Featured Highlights, Theology  3 comments

Words matter. What we say, what we recite, what we repeat. All of it matters. And the meaning behind the words we say matter just the same.

For this reason a Christian must never deny Jesus, especially to save their own life. Many have said they

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A Christian America: The Mayflower Compact

23 December 2009 History  One comment

In the ongoing debate (and, really, why is there a debate) over whether the US is a Christian nation, I'm taking a look at some of the historical documents and events typically used as evidence in favor of the US as a Christian nation.

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Reading To Share in the Body

16 December 2009 Martyrdom  4 comments

I've begun a reading of Craig Hovey's "To Share in the Body: a Theology of Martyrdom for Today's Church." Today, I'm merely posting some excellent quotes from the first third of the book. When I finish, I will do a more complete review. Check these few passages out.

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Schleitheim Confession: On the Ban

2 December 2009 Anabaptist  No comments

The second in a seven part series looking at the seven articles of the 1527 Schleitheim Confession. The ban, or excommunication, is not one of the happy topics discussed in churches, nor (sadly) is Church Discipline conducted much these days. I believe the model exemplified in this confession displays a Biblical, Christ controlled discipline.

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Schleitheim Confession: On Baptism

1 December 2009 Anabaptist  6 comments

The first in a seven part series looking at the seven articles of the 1527 Schleitheim Confession. Baptism, obviously a volatile issue in centuries past if you did not adhere to infant baptism, has just as much relevance and importance for the Church today.

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Don’t just be called a Christian

18 August 2009 Early Church  No comments

I came to these great words from Ignatius of Antioch last night:
It is right, therefore, that we not just be called Christians, but that we actually be Christians, unlike some who call a man bishop but do everything without regard for him. Such

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Great reason to know your history

8 August 2009 Church History  No comments

The best reason for the serious study of history is that virtually everyone uses the past in everyday discourse. But the historical record on which they draw is abundantly littered with myths, half-truths, and folk history; historians can, or

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End of the peaceful Church

23 July 2009 Early Church, Martyrdom, Nonviolence, Theology, Top Stories  3 comments

There is one canon from the Council of Arles in particular that grabbed my attention, as well as the attention of others who understand the stark reality that the Church was patently nonviolent for the first 280 or so years of her existence.

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Churches and Guns: If violence was okay…

9 July 2009 Martyrdom, Nonviolence, Reformation  One comment

Ninthly, he has said that if the Turks should invade the country, no resistance ought to be offered them; and if it were right to wage war, he would rather take the field against the Christians than against the Turks; and it is certainly a great

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4 July arrives again

3 July 2009 Martyrdom, Reformation  One comment

And I wanted to share a story of exemplary freedom and independence.
'The opinions for which men go to war,' he said, 'do not deserve those great tragedies of which they make us spectators. Let there be no longer any question among us of Zwinglians

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On this special day, 1 July 1523

1 July 2009 Martyrdom, Reformation  No comments

Not long after the Diet of Worms and the subsequent Edict in 1521, Augustinian monks Johann van den Esschen (Johannes Esch) and Hendrik Vos (Heinrich Voes), sympathetic to Luther and his teachings, were taken captive and branded for execution. On 1

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Nonresistant humility indeed

1 July 2009 Anabaptist, Nonviolence  No comments

Christian humility is not an affirmation of abuse or low self-esteem. It is not a retreat from the world's suffering and pain or a shrinking back from all expressions of power.To the contrary, Christian humility begins with a positive assertion: We

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Frequent and harmonious meetings

30 June 2009 Early Church, Nonviolence  No comments

Therefore make every effort to come together more frequently to give thanks and glory to God. For when you meet together frequently, the powers of Satan are overthrown and his destructiveness is nullified by the unanimity of your faith. There is

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