Recent content by John of Japan

I think one reason my view of apostleship shocks people, and often immediately draws opposition even among careful theologians, is that we have put the apostles on a pedestal. They were merely men, often blundered, and yet were used by the Lord. We've heard sermons about Peter and his big mouth...

It's a pleasure to interact with someone who has read the literature! Understood. I'll leave it there, but I do think it illustrates my point that "apostle" was commonly used after the canon was closed. I always get a kick out of the Didache saying that if an "apostle" comes by, he's a heretic...

I understand your answer, but actually, I don't believe that either document is considered pseudepigrapha. They are both anonymous. But granted, the Didache appears to teach baptismal regeneration, and The Shepherd of Hermes is just plain weird, if you've read it. :Coffee

I have some more from history. :Sneaky Here are two of the earliest church documents we have, the Didache (AD 100) and The Shepherd of Hermes (AD 150). The Didache: “Let every apostle, when he cometh to you, be received as the Lord; but he shall not abide more than a single day, or if there be...

I know that "evangelist" is the term used by some theologians (Chafer, etc.) for the modern church planting missionary, but that doesn't hold water. Modern evangelists such as John R. Rice object to this position. Rice had a genuine brouhaha with Chafer over this. Note: 1. Philip is the only...

That's a good OP, but there is something missing: there were more apostles than just the 12 and Paul. The most immediate example is that Paul and Barnabas were called apostles together in Acts 14:14: "the apostles, Barnabas and Paul." However, beyond that, there were others: Andronicus and...

A major difference, again, is the autonomy of the local church. This website shows the hierarchy of a main denomination of the Mennonites: Church Structure | Mennonite Church USA. Mennonites are a denomination, as this website says, but the typical Baptist will deny that there is a Baptist...

Easy peasy if you grew up in the '60's. It's the plastic water bottle.

Well, it's a hymn. Who pays attention to the lyrics?? :Biggrin

Nope. You used the generic "Independent Baptists." That's better. I did not use the term "mainstream." I think IFBs are two independent to have a "mainstream!" ;) Of course there was influence. But there were no direct connections. No early Baptist pastor or other leader I know of came from...

Point taken.

We can accept the narrative of the Trail of Blood if we dumb down what it means to be a Baptist so that it simply means to baptize by immersion. Some of the groups in The Trail of Blood rejected some of the Baptist distinctives. For example, the author has Montanists seeming to be in the true...

Independent Baptist seminaries that do not hold to Baptist perpetuity or recognize an Anabaptist origin: BJU (not explicitly Baptist, but the students generally are) Central Baptist Theological Seminary Maranatha Baptist Theological Seminary Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary Baptist...

There are various groups of Independent Baptists, so please do not lump us all together. It is a complicated movement. Many if not most of us do not adhere to "Baptist Perpetuity." My crowd does not, and the GARBC crowd generally does not. My seminary "Baptist History" prof listed three views...

No. 1. There is no historical congruence. When you look at the histories, they do not intersect. For example, none of the 17th century English Baptist pastors came from or were connected to the Anabaptists. 2. Many of the Anabaptists had doctrines contradictory to the Baptist distinctives. For...