Protestant reformers were at pains to argue that all they sought to do was restore the church to purity which had become corrupted in medieval times. They wanted to ensure that their teachings were ...

One of the most famous answers to this question comes in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 1: Q1. What is the chief end of man? A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ...

Wrath is an important part of God's nature. I think a good way into answering this question is to ask the question, 'What did Jesus save us from?' They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve ...

C.S. Lewis answered this question: During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began ...

The pastoral reason this debate matters so much is because of the related doctrine of assurance (which itself is intimately related to justification by faith alone). To put it bluntly, if our ...

There are two or three passages in the Old Testament which declare something similar (Numbers 23:19 and 1 Samuel 15:29). In each case God is distinguishing himself against sinful humanity. The point ...

You will probably find different denominations have a slightly different flavour to this answer. To put my cards on the table, I come at this from an Anglican perspective. My first point would be, ...

I think there is more to the gifts than the symbolism of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Particularly within the Bible. Recently I was preaching on Isaiah 60, and verse 6 struck me: Herds of camels ...

Your question could be expanded: why did God choose to make the world at all? The implication of asking your question is that the ultimate thing God is aiming for is efficiency. This is not the case. ...

Firstly, penance was rejected at the time of the reformation because the doctrine was based on a mistranslation of the Greek word metanoia - "repentance". The Latin Vulgate had, poenitenitam ...

I'm not aware of the specific lectures you are referring to, but I have listened to / read a fair amount of his work. I imagine Sinclair Ferguson would be thinking along these lines: Therefore, if ...

This is a question of sanctification. That link quotes the Westminster Confession of Faith, which says sanctification is: the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after ...

Outside of the New Testament canon itself, one of the earliest pieces of extra-Biblical evidence is the Alexamenos graffito. This shows a young man worshipping a donkey-headed figure on a cross. This ...

I don't think this is a question about protestantism in general - your mention of Anglicans, Lutherans and Methodists would say that. I, as an Anglican, would count myself very much as a protestant! ...

The traditional view of Reformed Baptists (and the Reformed view more generally, including of Anglicans) is that of eternal punishment. Take, for example, the Westminster Confession of Faith. This ...

Jesus affirmed the two greatest commandments because "All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:40). Paul says similarly in Romans 13:8, "Let no debt ...

There are two kinds of 'free will' which philosophers speak about: liberty of spontaneity, and liberty of indifference. Liberty of spontaneity means we are free to act according to our desires, ...

The list is not exclusive - curates are ordained. (Did you mean, ordinand - someone who is training for ordination?). Also there are several statuses for lay people who are not ordained: licensed lay ...

On your first question: the text (Luke 1:35) says that the pregnancy of Mary is by the power of the Holy Spirit, but that behind his work ("overshadowing") is the work of God the Father. So ...

The disagreement between Calvinists and Arminians are over the precise nature of predestination and election. The traditional Arminian position can be seen in the Five Articles of Remonstrance. The ...

I think the Reformed tradition would locate Jesus' body "in heaven", I believe these two quotations from Reformed authors will illustrate. John Calvin From his commentary on Acts 1:9-11: ...

I believe Jesus' own summary of the gospel message is "repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (Luke 24:47; cf Mark 1:15, Acts 2:38). Obviously this needs a lot of fleshing out e.g. defining ...

This is part of a wider question about what believers should do when the find themselves belonging to a church which has gone astray. There are no easy answers and much will depend on the actual ...

The concept of "rest" in the Bible is an important one. God's Sabbath-rest in the days of creation is given as something for Christians to enter into. Compare Revelation 14:13: Then I heard ...

I don't think there is such a distinction between the two camps here as you suggest. I think both of the documents you link to would agree that the Law expresses the will of God. The section of the ...

Rather than a commentary you might find an Introduction to the New Testament helpful such as this one which does go into the socio-historical context. More detailed commentaries are usually on a book-...

I can only speak from a UK context, where there isn't a Christian right like there is in the US. But I think the way the church has handled issues of sexuality is similar. In the last 10-20 years, the ...