Parchment & Pen Blog

September 27, 2007 Frisco, Texas: When I started The Theology Program in 2001, I had no idea what God was going to do. We now have over 50,000 registered online and on-campus students in 110 countries. We are in hundreds of churches and soon to begin in hundreds more. When The Theology Program grew into Reclaiming the Mind Ministries in [...]

Since we have so many people who not only frequent this blog, but also post, I thought it would be good for us to take an oppertunity to get familiar with each other. I know that these tests are not always acurate, but I did find this particular one helpful. It seems to ask the [...]

Recently, I was watching the “local” news and was overwhelmed by the burdens of bad news that I had to take on within just a few moments. There was a shooting and someone died. There was a brutal stabbing of a realtor while she was showing a house. The details were gruesome; she was stabbed over seventy times. There was [...]

You may be surprised to know that my series of blogs this week was inspired by Roger Olson, a man I respect very deeply. Although I don’t agree with him on many theological issues concerning salvation and theology proper, his scholarship, winsome writing style, and clarity about the importance of understanding theology irenically and historically have deeply [...]

 Provided by   D.A. LaGue In 1741, a Colonial minister confronted the established clergy with this piercing question; ‘Do you a minister of Christ; know Christ in your own heart?’ He would go on to infuse new life into the pulpits of colonial America, challenging ministers to move from dead orthodoxy to living reality. Gilbert [...]

I am sure that most of you are not quite as familiar with Clark Pinnock as you are with Joel Osteen. Seeing as how the conversation concerning the possible distinction between Osteen’s God and my God was quite popular and produced some good reflection, I thought that I would take it to the next level [...]

What a presumptuous question, right? The presumption is in the fact that I would even pose such a question. The question itself presumes that I might answer in the negative. What is wrong with you Michael? Why take off your irenic t-shirt with the quote from Rodney King on the back? Why do you now shod the [...]

These four criteria reveal that absolutely no original New Testament manuscripts have been discovered. So, let’s do a little speculating. What if some manuscripts were found that did fit all of these criteria? Should we regard them as authentic, as the long-lost originals of the books of the New Testament? Not necessarily. If such a [...]

These four criteria reveal that absolutely no original New Testament manuscripts have been discovered. So, let’s do a little speculating. What if some manuscripts were found that did fit all of these criteria? Should we regard them as authentic, as the long-lost originals of the books of the New Testament? Not necessarily. If such a [...]

What is the “True” church? #5 What is the definition of a true church? Here we will continue our discussion of what a legitimate church.

Labels are a postmodern taboo. This is understandable. Once you are labeled something, you live under the presumptions of the system that has been typified by others. This representation may or may not be accurate. Unfortunately, the inaccuracies inevitably rule the label. Republican: War lover. Does not care about the environment. Apathetic to social issues. Democrat: [...]

Since the blog “The Day I Became a Calvinist“ is way too long, I thought that I would take a very good question concerning the tension that Calvinism allows and post it along with my answer here. I guess it is Calvinism week here at Parchment and Pen! _____________________________________  Michael . . . Please explain the statement, “The point [...]