Adult Bible Study every Thursday

6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Interesting lectures. Stimulating discussions.

This site’s Library

Summit Theological Seminary

Christian Bible Institute American Bible Academy

Roger Chambers Jack Cottrell George Mark Elliott

Peter J. Rasor II James Smith

Russell Cottrell

Read your Bible daily. The best translation is the one you will actually read. The best method is to read the Bible chronologically. Download a chronological daily reading plan here.

SERMONS

Bible STUDY Methods

How do we read, understand and apply God’s Word which is contained in a nearly 4,000 year old book? This process of understanding the Bible is called Hermeneutics.

BIBLE TRANSLATIONS

World English Bible (WEB) There are many good English translations of the Holy Bible. Unfortunately, almost all of them were either (1) archaic (like the KJV and ASV of 1901), or (2) covered by copyright restrictions that prevent unrestricted free posting on the internet. The World English Bible is a quality translation of the Holy Bible into modern English, that you may freely use and quote, either for personal or commercial purposes. The World English Bible is an update of the American Standard Version of 1901, which is in the Public Domain, and has been edited to conform to the Greek Majority Text New Testament. The update has been undertaken by some very competent scholars. https://ebible.org/pdf/eng-web/eng-web_all.pdf

New English Translation (NET) The NET Bible is a completely new translation of the Bible with 60,932 translators' notes! It was completed by more than 25 scholars (Dispensational) - experts in the original biblical languages - who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts.

Easy English Bible - “Our vision for the Easy English Bible is to help people from every country to read and understand the Bible, and apply it to their lives. Our mission is to help people to read, understand, and apply the Bible to their lives by providing a Bible Translation, Bible Commentaries, and Bible Studies in Easy English. Please check this website if you know people who have reading difficulties.”

Revised English Bible - Completed in 1989, it is a English-language translation that is a complete update of the New English Bible of 1970. Read Wikipedia’s helpful article here. The British wording may be different than what we Americans are used to.

Don’t confuse it with the Revised English Bible of 1877.

The Slave Bible: This is a sad side of Christianity. It is a heavily redacted version of the King James, originally published in London in 1807 on behalf of the Society for the Conversion of Negro Slaves. Slave owners were afraid that IF people of color read the bible with it’s message of being free in Christ, they would lose control of “their property.” White missionaries were muzzled in what they could teach. The Slave Bible was provided as their text to teach people of color to read, and to comply with their owners. 95% of the Old Testament and 50% of the New Testament were removed so slaves could not read passages like the Exodus, or

1 Corinthians 9:19 (NASB) 19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more.
Galatians 5:1 (NASB) 1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Read the following two articles posted on this website:

Rebecca Hopkins: Black Missionaries Are Being Written Back into the Story

Eric Mason: Black Christians Are Confronting Black Lies About Christianity

Translations by Scholars within the Restoration Movement

The following translators- Anderson, Campbell, Paul, and Rotherham, are scholars within the tradition of the Christian Church/Church of Christ.

Henry Tompkins Anderson: The New Testament - Translated from the Sinaitic Manuscript discovered by Constantine Tischendorf at Mount Sinai. Cincinnati: The Standard Publishing Company, 1918. It is a revision of Anderson’s earlier translation of the New Testament, with alterations according to some of the readings of Codex Sinaiticus. Henry Tompkins Anderson (1812-1872) was a schoolmaster and a preacher in the Christian Church. Anderson had been a close student of the Greek and Hebrew for thirty years. Noting many inaccuracies in the common version (KJV), he conceived the idea of making a thoroughly new translation, rather than a mere revision of the New Testament. The version was prepared by Anderson shortly before his death in 1872.

Alexander Campbell: Living Oracles - The Sacred Writings of the Apostles and Evangelists of Jesus Christ, Commonly Styled the New Testament. Translated from the Original Greek, by Doctors George Campbell, James Macknight, and Philip Doddridge. Published in 1826, it was based on an 1818 combined edition of translations by George Campbell, James MacKnight and Philip Doddridge, and included edits and extensive notes by Campbell. Campbell was motivated by a belief that changes in the English language and the availability of improved critical editions of the Greek New Testament had made the Authorized King James Version obsolete. In developing the translation, Campbell relied on the critical Greek text published by Johann Jakob Griesbach. One notable feature of the translation is the replacement of traditional ecclesiastical terms such as "church" and "baptise" with alternative translations such as "congregation" and "immerse". The Living Oracles has been described as a forerunner of modern language translations in its updating of the traditional King James language and use of the work of textual critics such as Griesbach.

William E. Paul: An Understandable Version - This version of the New Testament was produced by consulting several Greek-English interlinear texts, a large number of English translations, and then confirming the meaning of each word from exegetical commentaries. Its purpose was to enhance the personal understanding and spiritual devotion of its publisher, his family members and those persons especially interested in Bible versions. First Edition, 1995. Second Edition, slightly revised 2003. Third Edition, additional slight revision 2005.

Joseph Bryant Rotherham: The Emphasized Bible - The Emphasized Bible is one of the most innovative and thoroughly researched translations ever done by a single individual. Its presentation of emphases and grammatical features of the original language still reward careful study. “A strictly literal rendering may not be so pleasant to the ear as one where the apparent sense is chiefly aimed at, yet it is not euphony but truth that ought to be sought. There are tens of thousands departures from the original text in the current versions. Rotherham revised his New Testament twice to stay abreast of scholarly developments. He based his Old Testament translation on the comprehensive Hebrew text of Dr. C. D Ginsburg, which anticipated readings now widely accepted.The Rotherham Emphasized Bible is the World’s best English translation of the Hebrew and Greek text, and the most Poetic.”

Benjamin Wilson: The emphatic diaglott - first published in 1864. It is an interlinear translation with the original Greek text and a word-for-word English translation in the left column, and a full English translation in the right column. It is based on the interlinear translation, the renderings of eminent critics, and various readings of the Codex Vaticanus. It includes illustrative and explanatory footnotes, references, and an alphabetical appendix. Mr. Wilson became active in the Restoration Movement in 1840, but became a follower of Dr. John Thomas in 1851. Dr. Thomas was convinced that rebaptism was necessary if the one being immersed did not see and feel blood when being baptized. Dr. Thomas separated from the Restoration Movement and began the Christadelphians, which are a millenarian Christian group who hold a view of Unitarianism. After Wilson's death the copyright was purchased by the Watchtower Society which from 1902 distributed Wilson's work widely around the world. For this reason Wilson's name is often incorrectly associated with Jehovah's Witnesses.

COMMERCIAL BIBLE SOFTWARE

LOGOS: {Windows}With Logos 8 Fundamentals You'll Find the Truth for Yourself as You Study the Word. Save Time on Research. Grow in Your Faith. Devotionals & Commentary. LOGOS 9 has now been released, which incorporated WordSearch.

Accordance: {Mac} Accordance equips you with cutting-edge original language tools, and a host of other tools designed to take your Bible study to the next level. All of these tools come packaged in a clean and simple interface that can be customized to complement your Bible study objectives

FREE BIBLE SOFTWARE

https://www.e-sword.net/

e-Sword is the original free Bible software program. Started in 2000, the program was primarily available for the PC. There are thousands of free books which can be added -

http://www.biblesupport.com/ — the archive of user-made e-Sword modules, resources and tools! You will be delighted with this EXCELENT FREE software.

http://www.crosswire.org/— The CrossWire Bible Society is an organization with the purpose to sponsor and provide a place for engineers and others to come and collaborate on free, open-source projects aimed at furthering the Kingdom of our God. ... The name was a pun of sorts, with the original idea that the Cross of Christ is our wire to God. Over the years, the meaning has grown into one more appropriate to what a Bible society is. The main purpose of a Bible Society is to distribute Scripture to as many people within a domain as possible.

http://www.bibleanalyzer.com/

The BibleAnalyzer is another Bible software program which has the look and feel similar to e-Sword. The program is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. It is a freeware cross-platform program. The good: Similarity to e-Sword makes it easier to maneuver and understand. The bad: All of the resources are old.

YouVersion by LifeChurch.tv provides this app for free (2,062 Bible versions in 1,372 languages.)n For people who want a Bible app, this is the place to go. The good: it is a free app which focuses on the Bible, yet it is user-friendly. The bad: There are no commentaries, no dictionaries, no other resources to purchase. (However, that can be good thing as well because it lets you focus on the Word.) You’ll have to come up with The Ugly!

SourceView Bible – promotes a new approach to Bible study including searching and seeing the Bible in various spheres. The app contains all kinds of stats, graphs, and different ways to view information.

Accordance is a program written exclusively for the Mac. It is written with the Mac user in mind. I’m told the interface is very “Mac-friendly.”

eBible.org - First eBible.org is a web site featuring access to the Holy Bible. Second, it is also the registered business name of an informal group dedicated to getting the Holy Bible to as many people as possible in the languages they understand best and the formats that are most useful to them. Third, it is a volunteer movement consisting of people who collaborate electronically to accomplish their common mission of making the Holy Bible more freely available in the languages and formats that provide the greatest impact for the Kingdom of God.

“God’s Tool” App - A helpful tool to develop media based fellowship. Share Jesus with anyone.

ScriptureDirect: A wonderful interlinear Greek-English tool. Each Greek word is linked to the modern and scholarly New Testament Greek-English Lexicon based on Semantic Domains, published by the United Bible Societies and edited by Johannes Louw and Eugene Nida. Available for Windows, Mac’s, Smart Phones FREE.

Online Educational Resources

Blue Letter Bible Online FREE courses

Theology Made Simple. Transforms hard to understand biblical concepts into child's play. You will love the graphic presentations.

Bible Odyssey: This is a lovely site to spend time investigating. Founded in 1880, the Society of Biblical Literature is the oldest and largest learned society devoted to the critical investigation of the Bible based on the Humanities’ core disciplines. With over 8,000 members worldwide, it represents and convenes scholars whose life work is in biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies. The SBL promotes the academic study of the Bible and of sacred texts generally.

The Bible Project: A very helpful site put on the web by professors and others connected with Western Seminary. Visual storytelling meeting the Bible. Watch illustrated videos about the Bible for free. We believe the Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus. Helpful downloadable resources.

STEP Bible: This is a Tyndale House project to build high quality free reliable Bible tools, with the aim of enabling anyone who wants to study the Bible seriously to do so. This has grown out of the free Tyndale Toolbar which is being used by thousands of people all over the world. Various skill sets are needed, from non-specialists who can work accurately and patiently, to highly skilled Bible scholars and programmers.

The Electronic British Library Journal: The EBLJ is the journal of scholarly research into the contents and history of the British Library and its collections. It is the successor to the British Library Journal, which appeared in twenty-five volumes between 1975 and 1999. Its purpose is to advance knowledge of the British Library's collections by demonstrating their wealth and the ways in which they are used by researchers. It is available free to all users of our website.

Biblical Studies.org.uk. Making Biblical Scholarship Accessible Since 2001.

Gordon College Biblical Biblical eSources: This site has been developed in order to provide solid biblical studies materials freely to all of the Internet community. Jesus always spoke the language of the people. The Christian faith needs to be expressed via the digital medium which is the native tongue of many of our students and denizens of the twenty-first century.

http://biblicalelearning.org/ : Digital Bible Free online Resources for the Global Christian Community. Biblicalelearning.org is an evangelical organization committed to the historic Christian faith (cf. Apostles’ Creed). Its goal is to capture, distribute and link to high quality biblically-based teaching by leading experts, and make their instruction freely and universally available.

Ebiblestudy: eBibleStudy.org is a collection of free Bible study lessons written by Bible professors from Oklahoma Christian University, an A Cappella university. The studies are excellent.

StudyLight: has more Bible commentaries, encyclopedias, dictionaries, lexicons and original language tools than any other website on the Internet! Explore our site and benefit from all the amazing features and resources that will help to illuminate the Word of God like never before.

Religion Online: Designed to assist teachers, scholars and general “seekers” who are interested in exploring religious issues. Its aim is to develop an extensive library of resources, representing many different points of view, but all written from the perspective of sound scholarship. Please note that this website has some very liberal content. Study with understanding.

Historical Dictionary Project of the Academy of the Hebrew Language. The best manuscripts are available free of charge.

The Internet Sacred Text Archive: The largest freely available archive of online books about religion, mythology, folklore and the esoteric on the Internet. The site is dedicated to religious tolerance and scholarship, and has the largest readership of any similar site on the web. Scholars use it with caution.

https://vdoc.pub/

VDOC.PUB: your number one source for your research and study. We're dedicated to giving you the very best of documents, with a focus on quality, secured, and totally free. Founded in 2018 by Cassandre Schimmel, VDOC.PUB has come a long way from its beginnings in university. When Tris Vernice first started out, his passion for place that everyone can sharing knowledge, drove him to quit day job so that VDOC.PUB can offer you this service.

Theological Book Network: Free digital resources. The Theological Book Network strengthens the Majority World church by supporting Christian educational institutions with theological resources. Founded in 2004, the Network has shipped over 2 million books to 1,800 schools in 90 countries.

The Theoi Project - a site exploring Greek mythology and the gods in classical literature and art. The aim of the project is to provide a comprehensive, free reference guide to the gods (theoi), spirits (daimones), fabulous creatures (theres) and heroes of ancient Greek mythology and religion. It was created by Aaron J. Atsma from Aukland, New Zealond, with help from the libraries of the University of Aukland and Leiden University in the Netherlands. Established in 2000, the website contains more than 1,500 pages and 1,200 images.

Pew Research Center - Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. We conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. We do not take policy positions.

Studies on Apologetics

Astronomy and the Bible

How did the ancient civilizations keep track of time? They used the world's Oldest Clock.

Precise Time: The U. S. Naval Observatory (USNO) is charged with maintaining the DoD reference for Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI). That reference is UTC(USNO).

Jeffery D. Grimm: Solar Eclipses in the Bible: Finding Moses' Burning Bush

Emmeline Plunket: Ancient Calendars and Constellations

Charles J Burton: Astronomy and the Bible; or, God's two great books, nature and revelation

Lucas Albert Reed: Astronomy and the Bible

William G Pollard: Physicist And Christian

Joseph Seiss: The Gospel in the Stars; or, Prímeval Astronomy

Baptism

The Connection of Baptism and Remission of Sins

John S. Sweeney: Comparison Chart on Baptism and Remission of Sins

: Baptism and Remission of Sins_a sermon

The DHMO controversy in theology.

Biblical Concepts

Leroy Garrett: Alexander Campbells Rules of Interpretation

Donald G. Hunt: The Unfolded Plan of God

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Creation and Fall: A Theological Exposition of Genesis 1–3

: Cost of Discipleship

: The Communion of Saints

Communion/Euchrist/Lord’s Supper/Mass

How to do a Communion Meditation

Calvinism/Augustianism

Augustine’s defection from the Apostolic Faith and subsequent slander of Pelagius

Scores of scholars have been heaping data that demonstrate Augustine defected from the theology of the church held from the beginning up to 412 AD. Augustine was teaching rhetoric in Milan, and Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, was renown for his rhetorical ability. Augustine first came to Ambrose to improve his teaching, but soon was captured by Ambrose’ faith. Ambrose converted Autustine from Manichaeism about 386 AD.

Around 412 AD Augustine defected from the Free Will doctrine held by the church and reverted to the determinism of the pagan religion of Manichaeism. Pelagius was just one of the faithful who protested Augustine’s defecture. The five points of Calvinism (TULIP), and Calvin’s theology is Augustinian.

In Praise of Pelagius

Pelagius and Pelaianism

The Myth of Pelagianism

Calvinism or Arminianism

When did Calvinism begin

Calvinism Considered

A Comparison between Calvinism and Arminianism

Arminianism vs Calvinism

Society of Evangelical Arminianism

Is Calvinism Biblical? This paper is to stimulate discussion on the philosophies that undergirded Augustinism and Calvinism.

Dr. Norman Geisler: Why I am Not a 5 Point Calvinist

Gordon Clark: - Clark is Calvinistic, committed to Covenant Theology, and very opposed to Dispensationalism.

Faith and Saving Faith

God’s Hammer - The Bible and Its Critics

George Mark Elliott: Neither Arminian nor Calvinist

Calvinism, Arminianism, and Original Sin

Dr. Jack Cottrell has written an excellent series on Original sin

Baptism and Original Sin

Original Sin or Original Grace?

Calvinism in a Nutshell

Original Sin and the Incarnation

More on Original Sin

John Augustus Williams: Life of Elder John Smith. One of the most colorful preachers of the Restoration Movement, and describes his struggle with Calvinism.

Christology

Benjamin Colon II: The Divinity of Jesus Christ

Jack Cottrell: The Divinity of Jesus the Christ

R.C. Foster: Studies in The Life of Christ

Genealogy of Jesus

Jessie Kellems: The Divinity of Jesus Christ

John Piper: What Jesus Demands from the World

Archibald Thomas Robertson: Harmony of the Gospels

Christianity vrs. Liberalism

Alan Strange: An Introduction to J. Gresham Machen

J. Gresham Machen:

Christianity and Liberalism - This is a must read. As relevant today as in 1923!

The Virgin Birth of Christ

The Life of Christ

The Origins of Paul’s Religion

Philip Schaff: The Person of Christ. With the attacks on Christ today, you will find this a delightful, refreshing book to read and study.

Atticus Greene. Haygood, The Man of Galilee: After reading the Dedication and Prefatory, start with the first chapter and read the entire book in order. It is brief. Haygood (1839–1896) was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He was president of Emory College. Haygood gained national prominence as a spokesman for the “New South” with his November 25, 1880 sermon from the pulpit of the Oxford Methodist Episcopal Church South (now known as Old Church). He promoted Christian tolerance and acceptance and urged reconciliation with the northern states, promoted education and educational opportunity for African Americans, called for an end to slavery, and attacked cruel practices against people of color.

Church

Oscar Cullman: The Early Church

Don DeWelt: The Church in The Bible

T.W. Phillips: The Church of Christ

Alfred Plummer: The Church of the Early Church Fathers

G.C. Brewer: The Model Church

Charles Scribner: Essays on the Primitive Church

G.C. Brewer: The Model Church

Cults

Roger Chamers, Ph.D.: Christianity and the Cults

James E. Orr: Christian View of God and the World

Clark Braden and E. L. Kelley: Public Discussion of the Issues Between the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Church of Christ (Disiples)

Guy V. Caskey and Thomas L. Campbell, Editors: Why I Left . . .

R. C. Evans: Forty Years in the Mormon Church - Why I Left It!

Otis Gatewood and Kenneth Farnsworth: Gatewood-Farnsworth Debate on "Mormonism"

Ann Eliza Young: Wife No. 19

Fawn Brodie: No Man Knows My History

J.H. Beadle: Polygamy and Mysteries

Charles Shook: Gist of the Bible

: True Origin of Mormon Polygamy

: American Anthropology

: Cumorah Revisited

William Tabbernee: Fake Prophecy and Polluted Sacraments-Ecclesiastical and Imperial Reactions to Montanism

Jerard Tanner: Changing World of Mormonism

Manly P. Hall: The Secret Teachins of All Ages. A book which lives up to its title. Hall self-published this massive tome in 1928. Each of the nearly 50 chapters is packed with information. Although there are some questionable and controversial parts of the book, such as the outdated material on Islam, the portion on the Bacon-Shakespeare hypothesis, and Hall's conspiracy theory of history as driven by an elite cabal of roving immortals, they are far out-weighed by the comprehensive information here on other subjects.

Demonology / Spiritual Warfare

Ben Alexander: Exposing Satan’s Power – Ben was a occult “minister” who learned to love Jesus Christ, and became a minister in the Restoration Movement.

Rodger K. Bufford, Ph.D.: Counseling and the Demonic. Volume 17 of the

Resources for Christian Counseling series. Series Editor: Gary R. Collins, Ph.D

Grayson H. Ensign, M.Div.: Bothered? Bewildered? Bewitched? Your Guide to

Practical Supernatural Healing

Counseling and Demonization the Missing Link

: VIDEO series – Can Christians Have Evil Spirits

-01 -02 -03 -04 -05

K. Neil Foster, Ph.D.: Dangers in the Deliverance Ministry

Luis Lopez: Victory: Spiritual Warfare for the Last Generation

Vern Poythress, Ph.D.: Spiritual Warfare (Prof Westminister Theological Seminary) -01 -02 -03

Tricia Tillin: The Thorny Problem: Can a Believer be Demonized?

Denominations

Various Churches

Thomas R. Burnett and D. B. Ray: Ray-Burnette Debate: A Discussion of the Doctrines and Practices of the Missionary Baptist Church

Alexander Campbell: Delusions: An Analysis of the Book of Mormon

Benjamin Franklin and T. J. Fisher: Debate on Some of the Distinctive Differences Between the Reformers and Baptists (1858)

Ashley S. Johnson: The Great Controversy

Ashley S. Johnson: Letters to a Young Methodist Preacher

George A. Lofton and F. W. Smith: Why the Baptist Name (1912)

C. R.. Nichol: Baptist Answers Reviewed

C. R. Nichol: A Study in Methodist Discipline

John S. Sweeny and John Crawford: Debate on the Points of Difference in Faith and Practice Between the To Religious Bodies Known as the Disciples of Christ and the Regular Baptists Embracing the Subject of Calvinism and Design of Baptism (1874)

Lee G. Tomlinson: Churches of Today

Catholicism

Cottrell & Sparagna The Doctrine of Purgatory

Charles Elliott: Delineation of Roman Catholicism

Alexander Campbell and John B. Purcell: A Debate on the Roman Catholic Religion

Bishop Strossmayer's Speech on Papal infallibility. Amazingly this was spoken at the 1870 Vatican Council which gave the pope infallibility. This is a must read.

A Study of The Man of Sin

The Trinity Review_Antichrist is Coming April 15 2008 (Still relevant!)

Lord Acton On the Papacy

Alban Butler: Lives of The Saints

Transubstantiation (a non-biblical RC doctrine)

A cardinal doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church is Transubstantationism, which

“expresses the notion that the Sacramental bread and wine, the moment they are consecrated by the Priest, are changed into the very body and blood of our Saviour Christ. This change they hold to be total. Not one particle of he bread, not one drop of the wine, is left; only the appearance is preserved. They are supposed to be wholly transformed in substance; and hence they are said to be transubstantied. (Council of Trent, Sess. 13,c.iv.-Cathecism of Trent, P.2.x.xi.)”

Pope Innocent III convened the 4th Lateran Council and declared

“There is only one universal Church, beyond which no man can in any way be saved. In which Jesus Christ is himself the priest and sacrifice, whose body and blood are really contained in the sacrament of the altar, under the form of bread and wine, being transubstantiated, the bread into the body and the wine into the blood, by divine power.” (Confession of the Synod of the fourth Lateran Council. 1215 A.D.)

Two old but helpful treatises date to the Church of England disentangling itself from the RC doctrine:

Tititson: A Discourse Against the Transubstantiation

Smith: Transubstantiation Tried by Scripture

E. DePressense: Heresy and Christian Doctrine

Several points contra to Transubstantiation

1. Jesus often used metaphors: Cf. Gospel of John 6:35, 9:5, 10:9, 15:1

2. If Christ is taken literally, He is offering, before the Atonement was actualized, atonement to the disciples.

3. John in 20:31 states his gospel is written to give the miracles of Jesus that give eternal life; but he never

mentions the institution of the Lord’s Supper.

4. Transubstantiation goes against the Calcedon Creed of 451 A.D.

An English translation of the Creed

“We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable soul and body; consubstantial with us according to the manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the virgin Mary, the mother of God, according to the manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets from the beginning have declared concerning him, and the Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.”

5. For over 8 centuries the church understood Christ to be speaking in metaphors.

Death of Jesus the Christ

M.R. DeHaan - The Chemistry of the Blood

Vaughn Elliott

Nobody Left Behind.

The Sinner’s Prayer

Discrimination

W.E.B. DuBois: The Soul of Black Folk. Dr. DuBois was the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University. He researched and wrote some of earliest sociological works on racism.

Philip Schaff: Slavery in the Bible. A lecture in 1861 that called for “Christian

Philanthropy” to resolve the cultural tension.

Voddie Baucham is Dean of Theology at African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia. Previously he served as pastor of Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas. Dr. Baucham has his D.Min. From Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, followed by post-graduate D.Phil. at Oxford, England. Dr. Baucham is the author of numerous books, including Expository Apologetics: Answering Objections with the Power of the Word, The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World, and Family Shepherds: Calling and Equipping Men to Lead Their Homes.

A sermon by Dr. Baucham: We are ONE in Christ.

Howard Thurman: Jesus and the Disinherited. Thurman's theology of radical nonviolence influenced and shaped a generation of civil rights activists, and he was a key mentor to leaders within the civil rights movement, including Martin Luther King Jr. Thurman was dean of Rankin Chapel at Howard University from 1932 to 1944 and as dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University from 1953 to 1965.

Evergreen Plantation. Evergreen Plantation is the most intact plantation complex in the South with 37 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, including 22 slave cabins. Evergreen has its country’s highest historic designation and joins Gettysburg and Mount Vernon in being granted landmark status for its agricultural acreage. Today, Evergreen Plantation remains a privately owned, working sugar cane plantation. People live here and work here. Evergreen is not open for tours. We are dedicated to research and education.

Rebecca Hopkins: Black Missionaries Are Being Written Back into the Story

Eric Mason: Black Christians Are Confronting Black Lies About Christianity

T.W. Crawford: African Americans in Churches of Christ

Podcasts that help understand the Biblical view:

Cultural Marxism

Defining Social Justice

Ethnic Gnosticism

Racial Reconciliation

The Sin of Sodom on Display in America

Defining Social Justice

By What Standard?

The Woke Church Movement and the Gospel

A Christian Response to Segregation

James O’Kelly (1789): Essay On Negro Slavery [a Pioneer in the Restoration Movement]

Theodore Crawford: From Segregation to Independence--African Americans In Churches of Christ

Charles Feinberg: The curse of anti-Semitism-its cause-its course-its cure

Evangelism

Josh Chen: Evangelism Reimagined

Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals

Gender - Manhood - Womanhood

I am Malala - The Story of the Islamic Girl Who Stood Up for Education

Sexism and Space Exploration - You need to read this article!

The Danver’s Statement

The Nashville Statement

Jack Cottrell: Some Vital Feminist Concerns

Wayne Grudem: Grounds for Divorce

John Piper and Wayne Grudem: Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

Grasham: Early Women Preachers on the Eastern Seaboard

G.P. Waters: Women in the Pulpit

Glossolalia

Currently there are two views of glossolalia

1. The Continuanist view that glossolalia and healing are biblical concepts continuing today. A Continuanist professor at Westmont, Dr. Teilford Work, states that it was “birthed” in 1920.

2. The Cessationist view that glossolalia and healing ended with the death of the Apostles.

John MacArthur: Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship

: Tongues

Nathan Busenitz: Comparing the Church Fathers with Contemporary Pentecostalism

Carl Mitchell: The Cessation of Miraculous Gifts of The Holy Spirit

Mansell Pattison: Behavioral Science Research on the Nature of Glossolalia

Garett Reese: SPECIAL STUDY on Speaking in Tongues-The Psychology of Speaking in Tongues-A Review

Charles Dailey: The Gift of Tongues

David Farmell: The Montanist Crisis: A Key Refutating Third-Wave Concepts of Prophecy

Thomas Edgar: The Cessatrion of the Sign Gift

Chuck Gianotti: Clear Teaching on a Confusing Subject

Benjamin Warfield: Counterfeit Miracles

Unknown author: The Psychology of Speaking in Tongues

Stanley Burges: The new international dictonary of Pentecostal and Charismatic movements.

Lehman Strauss: Speaking in Tongues

Gnosticism & Paganism

Definition of Gnosticism

What is Gnosticism? Gnosticism is the most pervasive and popular alternatives to Christianity and is a Major Problem Facing the Church today! It is an amalgamation of Eastern paganism and Roman paganism and exploded in the United States in the 1960’s. Writing at the beginning of the Hippie Movement in the late 1950’s, Dr. Hans Jonas wrote these words on the emergence of Eastern mysticism:

“What we do witness at the period roughly coinciding with the beginnings of

Christianity is an explosion of the East. Like long-pent-up waters its forces

broke through the Hellenistic crust and flooded the ancient world, flowing from

the established Greek forms and filing them with their content, besides creating

their own new beds.”

This ancient Worldview arrived in the West, being referred to as “The New Age,” “the Age of Aquarius,” “New Thought,” “Theosophy,”and many others.

Scholars are generally in agreement that Gnosticism originated from the merger of Hindu mysticism and Greek/Roman mysticism; and the New Age Movement of the 1960’s originated from Gnosticism and Hinduism, with the mantra “Hey ho, Don’t you know? Western Civ has got to go!”

The New Age worldview is like a kaleidoscope. There are so many tangents to it because it is very eclectic and draws from so many divergent sources. It is behind the gender issues, black lives matter, homosexuality, polyandry, polygyny, and much more. (Polyandry is contrasted with polygyny.)

This new worldview has entered deeply into western society and is seen in the health industry, psychology, science, politics, and “the new spirituality.”

The Apostle Paul is apparently having to address the influence of Gnosticism in the new congregations he was establishing. The Apostle John seems to have had problems with Gnosticism’s development and threat to the health of the church and wrote to counteract its influence. His Gospel and Epistles are evidence of it’s arrival in the Roman Empire.

In contrast with Gnosticism, The God of the Bible is CREATOR, everything else is created. The God of the Bible has given us His inspired Scriptures for our guidance.

Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, was the theologian from whom Roman Catholicism and Calvinism are derived. Around 412 AD, he reverted from the theology of all the Christian theologians preceding him, and returned to the gnosticism he held before becoming a Christian, a fact which he acknowledged. He is purported to have written: "We never cease to look towards India, many things are proposed to our admiration."

Today Gnosticism seeks to destroy the Bible, the Church, historic Christianity; and eliminate Western Civilization, creating a New World Order.

Dr. Richard John Neuhaus says: “Modern Day gnosticism is the natural religion of Americans, including American Christians…Feel-good religion and spiritual pills to elevate our consciousness and enhance our sense of comfort with our presumably ‘real selves - these are American specialities of long standing.” [Quoted from Fleming Rutledge: The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ]

The Church Fathers refuted Gnosticism

Irenaeus of Lyon - Bishop of Lyon, reputed Gnosticism in the 2-nd century - Irenaeus was a missionary, church planter, and bishop of Lyons, in the south of France He lived from 130-200 A,D. This remarkable document,written @ 170, is an excellent apologetic for the Christian faith from “The New Age” of that time, the ancient heresy we call Gnosticism. There are very many parallels between the heresy he was refuting and what we today call “New Age Spirituality.”

: Against Heresies - read the first chapter

: Proof of Apostolic Preaching - Documents that the early church followed the teaching of the Apostles

Epiphanius of Salamis - The Panarion - Its title (Bread Basket) referring to the text as a "stock of remedies to offset the poisons of heresy." It analyses and refutes 80 religious cults.

Hippolytus of Rome - Refutaton of all Heresies - It catalogues both pagan beliefs and 33 gnostic Christian systems deemed heretical by Hippolytus, making it a major source of information on contemporary opponents of Christian orthodoxy as understood today.

Tertullian of Carthage - Against the Valentinians - The work satirized the bizarre elements that appear in Gnostic mythology, ridiculing the Gnostics for creating elaborate cosmologies, with multi-storied heavens like apartment houses.

Christianity Today: The Gnostic Hunger for Secret Knowledge

Peter Jones: The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back: An Old Heresy for the New Age

: The Other Worldview

Banner of Truth: Gnosticism

Douglas Groothuis: What is Gnosticism?

Craig Carter: The New Gender Gnostics

M.J. Vermaseren: Studies in Gnosticism and Hellenistic Religions

D. James Kennedy: The DaVinci Myth versus The Gospel Truth

Roger Chamers, Ph.D.: Christianity and the Cults

Voddie Bacham: Ethnic Gnosticism

Craig Carter: The New Gender Gnostics

Peter Jones: The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back: An Old Heresy for the New Age

Banner of Truth: Gnosticism

Douglas Groothuis: What is Gnosticism?

Pheme Perkins: Gnosticism

James W. Sire: Scripture Twisting. How often have you encountered some bizarre doctrine only to be stunned to hear a Bible verse quoted to support it? Dr. Sire gives 20 ways cults distort Scripture.

: The Universe Next Door. As is stated in the preface: “I am convinced that for any of us to be fully conscious intellectually we should not only be able to detect the worldviews of others but be aware of our own – why it is ours and why, in light of so many options, we think it is true.”

: Naming the Elephant. The Universe Next Door has always lacked a complete definition of “worldview” and a thorough study of that concept itself. Sire writes Naming the Elephant, in an effort to fill this gap.

Franz Cumont: Astrology and Religion among the Greeks and Romans. America is in exactly the same place as Rome when Christianity arrived. At the time Paul was writing the Epistle to the Romans, Nero was marrying two men, one as his wife, the other as his husband. Cumont helps us bridge the centuries.

History

Wilelm Baum & Dietmar W. Winkler: The Church of the East

J.F. Burnett:

Tom Holland: Dominion: How the Christian revolution remade the world

Marcus N. Adler: The Itinerary Of Benjamin Of Tudela

Jewish Virtual Library. Anti-Semitism, Biography, History, Education, and lots more.

Hymnology

Hymnology Archive: Amazing scholarly source of information on authors, history, and musicology.

Languages

Greek

Russell Cottrell: Start Learning Ancient Greek

William Hersey Davis: Beginner's Grammar of the Greek New Testament

John Dodson: The Greek New Testament for Beginning Readers

J. Gresham Machen: New Testament Greek For Beginners

Eberhard Nestle - Nestle 1904 Greek New Testament

Westcott & Hort - Greek New Testament

Parallel Greek and English Bible: Wordproject has had a presence online since 1997. You will immediatly appreciate the vast reservoir of resources.

Dr. Shirley Rollinson: Study Greek in her online class, and see her resource of scholarly Greek and Hebrew fonts.

Maurice Robinson: The New Testament in the Original Greek-Byzantine Textform

George Smith: Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament

Liddell & Scott: Greek-English Lexicon

A.T. Robertson: A Short Grammar of the Greek New Testament

H.E. Dana: A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament

George Winer: Greek Grammar of the New Testament

New Testament Greek Word Studies

A.T. Robertson: Word Pictures in the New Testament

Vol 1 Matthew-Mark Vol 2 Luke Vol 3 Acts Vol 4 Epistles of Paul

Vol 5 John and Hebrews Vol 6 General Epistles and Revelation

Alexander Cruden: Complete Concordance

Robert Young: Analytical Concordance

W.E. Vine: Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

Hebrew

A. E. Cowley: Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar

James Kennedy: Introduction to Biblical Hebrew

Leadership

J.W. McGarvey: The Eldership

Liturgy

Gregory Dix: The Shape of the Liturgy

Miracles

264 Miracles in the Bible

Patristics

North American Patristics Society

The Tertullian Project - Roger Pearse created this excellent resource

Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts - Roger Pearse also created this resource

Christian Classics Ethereal Library

Polity

W.L. Hayden: Church Polity

Restoration Movement

The Reformation Movement of Luther, Huss, Calvin, Wesley, et.al., had the goal of reforming the Roman Catholic Church, and end the many abuses of that denomination. We, on the other hand, desire to go back entirely to the pattern of the church which God had given in the New Testament. Our belief is if all followers of the Messiah would unite in the effort to restore the church in the Bible, the unity for which Christ prayed would be achieved. To accomplish this goal requires great humility.

Social Marxism

See above under Discrimination.

Theonomy

What is Theonomy? A good review can be found on Wikipedia.

What is Christian Reconstructionism? A good review can be found on Wikipedia.

Ashley Johnson: The Covenants. A series of sermons that dispute Theonomy. Excellent study!

Joel McDurmon vs. Jordan Hall: The Theonomy Debate

Richard John Neuhaus: The Theonomist Temptation

Miscellany

Prof. Ferrell Jenkins’ Bible World

https://www.britannica.com/ - Explore the fact-checked online encyclopedia from Encyclopaedia Britannica with hundreds of thousands of “objective” articles, videos, biographies, and images from “experts.”

Christian Student Guide to Choosing a College & Scholarships

Religious Student's Resource Guidebook

Find Online Christian Colleges