It's nearly Christmas, and so the Incarnation is likely a topic you'll hear mentioned in sermons and Christmas carols. Songs about God being born as Jesus of Nazareth in Bethlehem are something that we hear all around us in the background as we're Christmas shopping or preparing dinners and attending …

Recently, I was discussing with a friend about how the Free Grace movement makes a clear distinction between eternal salvation (or justification) and discipleship (or sanctification).1

In this view, our eternal salvation is based only on our faith in Christ as our savior, whereas discipleship involves following Christ's example …

The upcoming Christmas season is a good time for an article about eating, for many of us will be enjoying especially good food with family and friends at dinners or parties over the next month or so.

However, the specific question I will address was inspired by a friend who …

I've come across something strange in several books I've read. Certain Protestant authors are actually considering the idea of purgatory as legitimate, and even advocating for it to be included as a part of Protestant eschatology.

It's because, they say, some Christians die who are not yet holy enough for …

One sentence spoken by Jesus had always perplexed me: "You are my friends if you do what I command you" (John 15:14).

I always thought to myself, "What sort of person would demand that their friends obey them in order to be considered their friends? Who would say they …

For my PhD dissertation, I am studying the American pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards, who lived in the 1700s.

To me, one of his most interesting writings is titled "Concerning The End for Which God Created the World," sometimes shortened to "End of Creation". It was one of the last …

For one assignment in a Christology course I took as part of my PhD, I wrote a review of Oliver D. Crisp's book The Word Enfleshed: Exploring the Person and Work of Christ (2016).

While this book is quite philosophical and not meant for beginners in theology, there were a …

One of my highly recommended books is Does God Love Everyone? The Heart of What is Wrong with Calvinism by Jerry L. Walls.

Walls has a very good introduction to the debate between Calvinists and Arminians, and good insight into what he thinks the debate is ultimately about.

I do …

I've called my blog Continually Sharpening, based on Proverbs 27:17, NIV: "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another."

I hope that as I study and teach, I will have my theological views continually sharpened and refined, so that they become more and more Biblical and in alignment …

While I'm not really a history expert, I was called on to TA a course last winter on the history of early Christianity. As part of this, I gave a lecture on early Christian heresies about Jesus, and why they were problematic.

If you're not familiar with the term:

Heresy …