Reading Time: 17 minutesQuestion 07048 The question of whether the Christian is under the Mosaic Law is one of the most practical questions in the whole of Christian doctrine, and one of the most frequently misunderstood. Whole denominations have been formed on particular answers to it, Christian consciences have been weighed down or liberated by particular readings of…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 09009 The distinction between open and closed communion is one that many churchgoers encounter without fully understanding. It determines who is welcome at the Lord’s Table when a church celebrates the Supper, and the answer a church gives reveals something about how it understands the nature of the church, the ordinances, and the boundaries…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 09008 The New Testament commands the church to observe the Lord’s Supper but does not specify how frequently. This has led to considerable variation across Christian traditions, from daily celebration in some Catholic and Orthodox settings to quarterly or even annual observance in some Protestant churches. The absence of a specific command about frequency…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09006 The Lord’s Supper is the second of the two ordinances Jesus gave to His church. It is practised in virtually every Christian tradition, yet the meaning attached to it varies enormously. Roman Catholics believe the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Christ. Lutherans hold that Christ is physically present…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 09005 Christians who agree that believers should be baptised sometimes disagree about how it should be done. Should the person be fully immersed in water, or is pouring or sprinkling equally valid? The question is not trivial, because the mode of baptism is connected to the meaning of baptism, and the meaning is not…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09003 Baptism is one of the most visible acts of the Christian life, and it is also one of the most debated. Who is it for? Is it reserved for those who have already believed, or does it extend to the children of believers as well? The answer to this question shapes how churches…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 09007 The question of who may take communion touches directly on how we understand the nature of the Lord’s Supper and the community for which it was given. Different Christian traditions draw the lines in different places, from the very restrictive to the entirely open. What does the New Testament itself say about who…
Reading Time: 2 minutesQuestion 08089 Not all demonic activity is the same, and the failure to distinguish between different forms of it leads to both unnecessary panic and unhelpful pastoral counsel. The two categories most commonly discussed are possession and oppression, and they describe genuinely different conditions. What Possession Involves Possession, in its full biblical sense, describes a…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 08116 Cherubim and seraphim are among the most striking and least understood figures in the biblical narrative. They appear at some of the most dramatic moments in Scripture, from the guarding of Eden to the throne room of God in Isaiah’s vision. Yet they are often confused with one another, blended into a generic…
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuestion 9002 The word “church” is thrown around quite loosely today. People talk about “going to church” as if it were simply a building or a Sunday morning activity. But what does the Bible actually mean when it speaks of the Church? This is a question that deserves careful attention because understanding what the Church…