Discalced Baptist

In the late 1970s, a grassroots movement arose among Calvinistic Baptists that has been the source of much debate. This movement eventually became known as New Covenant Theology (NCT). Since its birth, this internal debate among Baptists has had not a little ink spilled regarding the key issues. Those issues consist of: Was there a covenant made with Adam in the Garden of Eden, and if so, what are its theological implications, namely was it a Covenant of Works? Is the moral law summarily found within the Decalogue (10 Commandments)? Are Christians obligated to maintain a Sabbath (a.k.a the Lord’s Day) in the New Covenant? One of the primary opponents has been Richard Barcellos. In the fall of 2017, his much anticipated Getting the Garden Right: Adam’s Work and God’s Rest in Light of Christ was released by Founders Ministry. One could say this is his magnum opus , drawing upon many of the issues and works he has previously produced. Getting the Garden Right has three par...

What are the holy Scriptures? As answered in my previous post  asking this question, I stated that the Old and New Testaments, as found in the Protestant Bible, are the only infallible rule of faith and obedience. But how exactly did we come to obtain these? In this post, I will seek to establish, in brief, the Old Testament canon. The Old Testament did not come down out of the sky on some golden plates as a complete and immediate document, but was written by various authors over the span of almost a thousand years, ranging from Moses to Malachi. Also, to speak outright, I do not believe in the 4 different types of authors of the Pentateuch (JLPD), the multiple authors of Isaiah, or any of the other absurd liberal criticisms of the Old Testament, that are founded more upon heretical presuppositions that the Bible couldn't possibly be the Word of God, nor that the Word has been preserved down through the ages for us. People see what they want to see, and their presupp...

"For detestable to Yahweh your God is everyone who is doing such things, everyone who is acting dishonestly."  Deut 25:16 LEB Today I took my 4 boys to the toy store. My wife was under the weather, so I sought ways to give her the opportunity to rest. A cup of tea and an empty house I thought would be an excellent way for her to rest. We did some necessary shopping in the morning, but I still needed something to do for the afternoon. Thus, we ended up at the toy store to give my children opportunity to find amusement with the toys on display and placed out as demos. Though my children were well behaved most of the day (as well as can be hoped for 4 boys 5 and under) by the time I let them go play with toys, they became quite unruly. They fought over toys and one had temper tantrum, throwing a toy to the ground. Finally, the last straw came for me when my eldest son broke a toy. It was a little plastic helicopter that had a functional rotor. In trying to force th...

Many years ago I was an art major for a time. It was because of being an art major that I had to take a philosophy class. That philosophy class was on the relationship of art & philosophy. It was a very intriguing class and I enjoyed it so much that it ultimately was the reason why I considered becoming an philosophy major. Where there were several things I enjoyed about the class, it was my final project (a presentation with a brief summary paper) that I think really pushed me into the field. The topic of worship & spirituality is one that matters deeply to me. Having served in worship bands for 15 years, and played music for almost 20 years, the subject strikes a chord that resonates deep within me (pun intended). Below is the summary paper I wrote which started me into philosophy. Where I could elaborate greatly on what I said, and there are some aspects of it I would probably change today, the overall gist of the paper I still agree with: Music matters. There is a reaso...

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7 NASB In Matthew 4:1-11, we find Jesus being tempted by Satan. There is a specific part of this event I want to focus on. It is when Satan tempts Jesus to throw himself off of the pinnacle of the temple. Here is the passage in its entirety: Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness  to be tempted by the devil.   And after He had  fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.   And  the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the  Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”   But He answered and said,  “It is written, ‘ Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God .’”   Then the devil took Him into  the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,   and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for ...