Theology for Everyone

Theology for Everyone

WCF 31: Of Synods and Councils Should leaders from multiple churches gather to consider matters of common concern? You might have an opinion on that question. Or it might seem irrelevant. How does church government affect my walk with the Lord? But what if inter-congregational meetings could be for...
Alan Allegra
Let me begin by saying that the Bible is a book like any other book. Before you unfriend me or delete Place for Truth from your favorite bookmarks, let me explain. The biblical writings contain elements found in other documents, e.g., metaphor, simile, metonymy, synecdoche, synonyms, allegory,...
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant” (Heb. 12:11). We don’t like discipline—in our personal lives, in the family, or at church—because it hurts. No balanced person enjoys giving or receiving corrective instruction. Correction wounds our pride and threatens our imagined...
For those who believe that God does not accept and account a person righteous by imputing to them faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience, as the Westminster Confession contends, a passage like Romans 4:3 is hard to understand. Not because of the grammatical...
WE AFFIRM that the Holy Spirit bears witness to the Scriptures, assuring believers of the truthfulness of God's written Word. WE DENY that this witness of the Holy Spirit operates in isolation from or against Scripture. In our previous argument on the witness of church history to the inerrancy of...
After three years of walking with Jesus the disciples were about to face their greatest trial. God would strike the Shepherd and scatter his sheep (Matt. 26:31). Spiritual darkness would place the disciples under extreme pressure. They would not completely fail. But they would falter. Knowing all...
WE AFFIRM that the doctrine of inerrancy has been integral to the Church's faith throughout its history. WE DENY that inerrancy is a doctrine invented by scholastic Protestantism, or is a reactionary position postulated in response to negative higher criticism. The inerrancy of the Scriptures is a...
In places with a Christian heritage the weightiness of baptism can easily be underestimated. Many people get baptized, or baptize their children, out of impulse, or as a matter of custom. It isn’t usually a sobering decision. Believers under persecution understand baptism differently. Immediately...
In formal logic, the logical biconditional is the relation that exists between two statements when they imply – or necessitate – each other. It is usually expressed with the phrase “if and only if.” For example, the statement “I am breathing if and only if I am alive” necessarily entails the...
WE AFFIRM the unity and internal consistency of Scripture. WE DENY that alleged errors and discrepancies that have not yet been resolved vitiate the truth claims of the Bible. We’re told in Proverbs that “every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him” (Pr. 30:5). The...