Parchment & Pen Blog

I had the immense privilege this past semester of taking Historical Theology II with Dr. John Hannah.  One day, we had a discussion about classic American cults and he talked about common distinguishing factors of these cults of which five major themes were identified. Now I am not sure anyone reading this would voluntarily enter [...]

Have you heard something like this: “When Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane asking for relief, it was the human side of him speaking.” Or how about this, “When Christ said that he did not know the day or the hour of his coming, that was the human person talking, not the divine.” Or even [...]

One of the best ways to confirm the Christian faith is through prophecies in the Old Testament fulfilled in Christ. As I read through certain portions of the Old Testament I can’t help but be amazed at the evident hand of God in the composition of these Scriptures. God tells the Israelites, who were continually [...]

I cannot tell you how many times I have been called a heretic. It simply comes with the territory of teaching theology. I have been called a heretic by anti-dispensationalists, Catholics, egalitarians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and, of course, my anti-Calvinistic friends. The word “heretic” seems to be well worn these days. With so many different beliefs [...]

No one likes the doctrine of hell. No Christian likes the doctrine of hell. If they do, they have issues. It is that simple. I have often said that the doctrine of hell is simply the most disturbing doctrine thing known to man. If I could get rid of one of my beliefs, this would [...]

I have heard on numerous occasions that the Holy Spirit is needed to understand the Bible.  That is to say, the Bible will only make sense to Christians and requires the Holy Spirit’s interpretation.  Why?  Because it contains a spiritual message, as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 2:6-14.  It is a mystery, that requires spiritual [...]

In the preceding three rounds of this debate, I have argued that the person of Jesus Christ existed as God prior to the creation of the world and that the Holy Spirit is also a divine person. If my argument up to this point has been successful, I have thoroughly refuted the Biblical Unitarian position [...]

The Divine Hierarchy: Father, Son & Angels This week I hope Rob will show Biblical evidence for the essential relationship formulae of Trinitarianism: Father = “God”, Son = “God” and Holy Spirit = “God” “God” = Father + Son + Holy Spirit In Week 1 we saw that proving the first does not automatically prove [...]