The Gospel of Roman Catholicism

IS THE REFORMATION REALLY OVER? The Gospel of Roman Catholicism In their 2005 book of the same title, Christian historians Mark Noll and Carolyn Nystrom posed the question “Is the Reformation over?” While acknowledging that doctrinal and practical differences between Catholics and evangelicals remain, they concluded that when it comes to the matter of justification by faith “…many Catholics and evangelicals now believe approximately the same thing.” Eleven years earlier, it was essentially this same conclusion that served as the fundamental premise of the 1994 ecumenical document “Evangelical and Catholics Together”: We affirm together that we are justified by grace

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Deep and Wide: A book review by Gary Gilley

BOOK REVIEW: Deep and Wide, by Andy Stanley (reviewed by Gary Gilley) Initial comments below by Dave James, followed by the full book review by Gary Gilley: Only occasionally one runs across an article that could be considered a “must-read”—and even less frequently, a book review that would fall into the same category. However, this particular book review by Gary Gilley really is a must-read because it deals with an issue that is broadly affecting the church in America. It is concise, insightful, relevant—and important to the on-going discussion of what it means to “do church” in a way that is

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Grace & Sin in Catholic Theology

GRACE & SIN IN CATHOLIC THEOLOGY The following article began as part of an email discussion with a member of The Berean Call staff, which was then picked up and edited into an article which appears in this month’s issue of their monthly newsletter. My thanks go to the TBC team, and especially to the editor, Barb Romine, who always makes my writing look better than it does coming directly from me. ______ GRACE & SIN: Why the meanings of words matter by David James Note from TBC: Increasingly, we read of evangelical leaders dipping into the muddy waters of

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The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction?

Does Isaiah 9:10 really contain an ancient mystery that holds the secret of America’s future? Note: This review is an abridged version of a book of the same title. PUBLISHING UPDATE: The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction? is now available for purchase on The Berean Call website and Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle formats. Article available in pdf format at this link. A discussion between Dave James and Jonathan Cahn, moderated by Jimmy DeYoung can be found at this link. The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him. (Proverbs 18:17, NKJV) Moderated discussion

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Are Muslims Seeing Jesus?

Recently, I was asked by another Bible teacher about my views concerning reports coming out of the Muslim world that many Muslims have been having visions and dreams of Isa (“Jesus” in Arabic) – and as a result, that many – perhaps tens of thousands – are coming to saving faith in Him. I have been aware of these stories for a number of years, but until a couple of weeks ago, I hadn’t done much research into the matter. My studies led me to a very well-written article by Dennis McBride, in which he addresses the major issues surrounding

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“Son of God” Translation Controversy

For years there has been a discussion among missiologists and linguists concerning the proper translation of certain biblical passages into various languages in the Muslim world. Over the years, the discussion has turned into a debate and more recently into a full-blown controversy that has gained a lot of momentum over the last few weeks. The present controversy centers around specific decisions by Wycliffe Bible Translators, SIL International and Frontiers (an exclusively Muslim ministry) concerning the translation of the “Father-Son” (“divine familial”) language in a number of Bible versions created for the Muslim world. Note: In the case of Frontiers,

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Bruce Waltke’s Comments Create Firestorm

(This article is available in downloadable and printable PDF, 2 column article format: Click here to download) Bruce Waltke is one of the most well-known Old Testament scholars in the Reformed tradition of this generation. Known by many as a conservative, his comments made in a recently-released 2009 interview may have created one of the most significant theological firestorms to sweep through the evangelical community in recent memory. (This issue has generated a tremendous number of articles, blogs and comments and because of the sheer volume it has become very difficult to trace everything back to the primary sources for

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In India with The Agape Puppets

This ABI blog is a bit of a departure from most articles – but it does focus on reaching the lost with the gospel in a unique way. This blog features an email from a dear friend, Linda Summer, who is the Director of the Agape Puppet ministry. Linda and her team are currently in India and reaching thousands of Hindu children with the gospel of Jesus Christ. As always, she is accompanied by Sam Shaw (from Northern Ireland), who is the Associate Director for the ministry and his wife, Silvana, who is from Brazil. Linda Summer is a truly

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What About Those Who Haven’t Heard? An Exposition of Romans 10

During his 30-year career, the Apostle Paul personally carried the gospel to some of the most important and populous cities along the central corridor of the Roman Empire, including Rome itself. But this work was no easy task. Paul endured incredible hardship and continually put his life on the line for the sake of the gospel, facing death time and again (2 Corinthians 11:23-28), until finally he was executed in Rome for the message he preached. History tells us that most of the other apostles met similar fates. And through the centuries, countless others have given everything in order to

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Those who haven’t heard – in the Amazon

As an introduction to the second survey in this series, I presented a hypothetical situation of an Indian village and a young girl named Ayanna. However, this blog is about a present, real-life situation deep in the Amazon jungle. Yesterday, my dad forwarded an email update from a missionary that very directly touches on the question, “What about those who haven’t heard?” And because of its timeliness and relevance to the issue, I have decided to post it (below) before addressing this question in light of Romans 10 in the next few days. Michael Guerink , is a missionary in

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What about those who haven’t heard? (Part 3)

This is part of a blog series concerning the question of the eternal fate of those who have not heard the gospel by the time of their death. So far, 77 people have participated in the first survey and 41 in the second, follow-up survey (which are part of this blog series). The tabulated results can be seen in the graphs below. Even though these results are not statistically significant due to the low number of respondents, they do seem to show that there is a fairly significant divergence of opinion regarding this issue. And although the results are not

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What about those who haven’t heard? (Part II)

This is a follow-up to the first ABI Quick Survey in this current series on an important theological and practical issue. It is well-known that the way survey questions are framed can have a significant influence on the way people respond. One factor can be when questions are posed in such a way that they seem more real or personal to the respondent – and aren’t just theoretical / hypothetical. This can be particularly true with questions related to difficult theological issues. I hope you will take a moment to read the following scenario and then continue to the second

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The Haiti Crisis: A pastor’s response

Paul Barreca is one of the co-founders of The Alliance for Biblical Integrity. He is the pastor of Faith Bible Church in Vineland, New Jersey. What’s a Church to Do? A Word to Pastors. By Paul Barreca How should churches respond to the crisis in Haiti? No further reminders of the devastation are necessary. Anyone with internet or television access knows that the poorest nation in the western hemisphere is in the throes of incomprehensible human suffering. As churches gather Sunday, every member will have been moved by the images and news from Haiti. They will want to know “how

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Pondering the Incarnation: Was Christ really tempted?

Over the years Karen and I have engaged in a lot of ministry through the internet by interacting in a number of forums. It has been an amazing opportunity to share the gospel and other biblical truth about a wide range of topics. Over the last couple of days I have been involved in some discussions over at Grace Centered Christian Forums (note: this is not an endorsement of this website because I haven’t yet fully investigated their theological positions). One of the questions that was posted a couple of hours ago was related to the temptation that Christ experienced.

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Manhattan Declaration: A Response – Part I

(An article combining this post and the previous one on the Manhattan Declaration is available in downloadable and printable PDF, 2-column article format: Click here to download) . A week ago today, the Manhattan Declaration was released by Chuck Colson and almost 150 other signers at the National Press Conference. Since then there have been countless blogs and articles written about the 4700-word document and the response has been quite mixed. Predictably, it has been denounced by liberals of all stripes who support the LGBT agenda and who advocate “a woman’s right to choose.” But neither has it been received

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Chatting with an atheist

For the past couple of weeks I have been in an ongoing chat conversation with someone who self-identifies as an atheist. He connected with me after a discussion concerning a recent ABI blog. Over the course of our discussion I have asked him a number of questions, including those below in one form or another. I have also added a few comments after the questions to provide some perspective and additional “food for thought.” Perhaps some of them will be helpful if you find yourself in a similar discussion. Question(s): If it could actually be proven to your satisfaction that

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“Cheap Grace?” by Dr. Roy Zuck

This blog is by guest contributor, Dr. Roy Zuck. Dr. Zuck is Senior Professor Emeritus of Bible Exposition, Dallas Theological Seminary and the editor of the theological journal Bibliotheca Sacra. He is the author or editor of many books including Basic Bible Interpretation, Bible Knowledge Commentary, A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament and A Biblical Theology of the New Testament. Dr. Zuck is one of ABI’s endorsing theologians. __________________________ Must a person submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ in order to be saved?  If he did not make Christ Lord of his life at the moment of salvation,

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Important Questions from a Reader

Today, I received an email from an ABI Facebook Group member with some questions and issues that this person would like for us to consider as topics to be addressed on the ABI website and/or blog. I have also encountered these myself in a variety of contexts including ministry situations, articles and books, blogs and forums, conversations and just during personal reflection. I have summarized the main issues below and plan to write on many or most of them in over the next few weeks (or have guest writers contribute, as well.) So, stay tuned. (As always, please feel free

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