by Kevin Bauder | Aug 10, 2017 | Bauder's Reading, Fundamentalism, Theology
All Bible doctrines are equally authoritative because they are equally inspired (2 Tim. 3:16), but the Bible indicates that they are not all equal in terms of appropriate emphasis. The Bible emphasizes some doctrines more than others, and this emphasis is positively...
by Kevin Bauder | Aug 8, 2017 | Bauder's Reading, Bibliology, What We're Reading
God does not leave it up to mankind to figure out what his mighty acts mean, but God follows up on his mighty acts with words that tell mankind what his acts mean and how we are to live in light of them. Barrett, Matthew. God’s Word Alone: The Authority of...
by Kevin Bauder | Jul 21, 2017 | Bauder's Reading, Ecclesiology, Local Church, Universal Church, What We're Reading
Some Baptists (e.g., Landmark Baptists) insist that the only ekklesia in the New Testament is a local church. Every usage, according to them, refers to the local church, individually or collectively. However, this view runs up against serious problems. For instance,...
by Kevin Bauder | Jul 20, 2017 | Bauder's Reading, History, Persecution, Religious Freedom, Tolerance, What We're Reading
Toleration–allowing freedom of expression–has no logical limits. In religion it includes ritual, which is action as well as words. But does it include burning the country’s flag? Law in the United States says yes. What of behavior onstage that many...
by Kevin Bauder | Jul 17, 2017 | Bauder's Reading, Ecclesiology, Local Church, Universal Church, What We're Reading
The body of Christ is meaningful in so far as individual Christians have Christ as their collective head. It is not individual local churches of which Christ is the head. It is not even individual Christians who are members of local churches. Rather, all Christians of...
by Kevin Bauder | Jul 13, 2017 | Bauder's Reading, Ecclesiology, Pneumatology
[1 Cor. 12:13] says, “We were all baptized into one body.” The “we all” transcends the local church at Corinth for a couple of reasons. (1) The addressees of the epistle imply or designate a wider audience than the local church at Corinth (1 Cor 1:2). The latter part...
