Christian Church

to do with issues and threats facing the church and discipleship rather than exploring a new model of discipleship. The church can have as many programs they chose to, but without effectively embracing the culture we are a part of, the church cannot truly disciple people in today’s post-Christian world. It is imperative the church understands its culture and society in order to truly be effective in discipling the church. In today’s market the church is saturated with a people who have…

Horizontal Dimensions of the Church is the side to side relationship and how we are connected to one another as fellow Christians and according to Mueller, “unless we belong to him and believe in him, we are not part of the church.” (p. 233) we might be Christians, however without the horizontal we will not be the church or be able to carry out the tasks placed before us by God. The Vertical Dimensions of the Church is the up and down relationship between the Church and God and according to…

writings of early Christian theologians, including St. Augustine, and the Bible. He then created a theory of truth only faith not good deeds could bring a person’s redemption and that no good works, rituals, etc. would save a person if they did not believe. 2. He believed that only faith could redeem a person and that no rituals would save a person if they did not believe. He even writes the 95 theses were he writes what he believes about the church. One example of his belief of the church was,…

The first Great Awakening and the Second Great Awakening were a really important factor in the way it helped shaped christian thinking and ideas by the fierce movement It created. Each Awakening had leaders who were notable in history, with George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards being two of the most important and crucial names associated with the First Great Awakening and Nathaniel Taylor and Charles Finney in the Second Great Awakening. The religious excitement that was the Second Great…

does not come from without; it comes from within. Many have labeled this threat as the “emerging church” movement. This is a reformist movement within Christian-oriented circles primarily characterized by protest (Carson 9, 14, 25). Few have taken up the task of discussing this movement in detail, but in D.A. Carson’s work on the subject, he exhaustively covers the movement and what it means for Christian-oriented people. Carson succeeds in this task, but there are several drawbacks that ought…

beginning of early church history, different perspectives were addressed based on the Christological view and deity of Christ. The early western church fathers played a significant role in this era. The bishops of the church would meet together to discuss and debate their views and attempt to resolve the issues involving church doctrine. The texts of “Reading in Christian Thought” by Hugh Kerr, “Pocket History of the Church” by D. Jeffrey Bingham and “A Concise History of Christian Thought” by…

Catholic Church is the only means for salvation is highlighted. Outside of the church there is “neither salvation or remission of sins. (RMA p.425)” Boniface, making an indirect reference to Philip, states “there is one body and one head, --not two heads as if it were a monster. (RMA p.425)” These particular quotes from the papacy are attempting to convey to the clergy that worldly powers, such as King Philip IV, cannot promise one’s salvation and eternal life as this is an act that only the…

Dear friends, family, and fellow brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ; today, we gather to honor a great man: Martin Luther. Martin was passionate, resistant, and unwavering in his love and devotion to the Church and its individuals! Martin was also very humble, and would most likely argue that he did nothing that his conscious and faith did not obligate him to do. Though it may have been the hand of God guiding him, I think it would be disrespectful to not acknowledge his hard work &…

But this dominance in Europe would not last throughout the next one hundred years. This was a time period before the Protestant Reformation begun by professor and munk: Martin Luther, that was to challenge the Catholic Church not only in its systematic practices, hierarchy, and Biblical interpretation, but most importantly, challenge its widespread followers and believers in Europe. Historian Hans Hillerbrand, in his book The Protestant Reformation, comments that by the…

state has authority over the spiritual. He supports this by claiming all Christians are spiritually equal, destroying the hierarchy within the Catholic church. He also uses scripture, specifically Romans 13:1-4 which states, “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, … for so is the will of God.” Because God wishes for us to abide by the laws of man, the temporal state has authority over all Christians. 2. Luther attacks the second wall in the same manner he attacked the…