Category: Christian Faith
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Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual gifts are among the least understood subjects among believers, yet are one of the most important parts of church life. Paul’s writings are the main source of instruction regarding the gifts, and areprobably the best place to start is in 1 Corinthians Chapters 12 through 14. That these chapters be considered as a whole…
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Authority in the Church
When persecution against the House Churches eased early early in the 4th century under Constantine, Christians found ways to form larger assemblies, encouraged, no doubt, by Constantine’s aggressive church-building programs. It is not surprising that these larger assemblies formed hierarchies. This very human tendency is so common that one has to wonder why Moses needed…
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Hijacking the Church
The first to hijack Christianity was the Emperor Constantine, who used Christianity to unite the Roman Empire under his control. Carrying the Chi Rho symbol, the first two letters of “Christ” in Greek, his soldiers prevailed against Maxentiius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge of 312 AD. Constantine invited the “bishops” of the day…
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Separation of Church and State
While house church theology and the American political left may disagree on a long list of issues, they are in lock step on the question of the separation of church and state–but for completely different reasons. One might look at separation in a number of ways. We Christians are told that we must separate from…
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Christian Apologetics
A Christian apologitic is written or oral argument that attempts to prove the Christian faith through logic and reasoning. Authors of this genre span the centuries and incllude Teretulian (3rd. cent.), the French mathemetitian Blaise Pascal (17th cent.), and C.S. Lewis (20th cent.). I need no other argument,I need no other plea,It is enough that…