Church History / Ancient Church

  • Augustine, Doctor of Grace by Tom Nettles

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2005

    For combination of doctrine and piety, Augustine (354–430) has few peers in the history of Christianity. His writings inform every area of discussion in Christian philosophy, systematic theology, philosophy of history, polemics, rhetoric, and devotion. Though some views support …Read More

  • Living Authority by Burk Parsons

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2005

    In the main hallway of the seminary where I studied hangs a copy of Albrecht Dürer’s masterpiece The Four Apostles. It is indeed a magnificent interpretation of the classic work that was painted by one of the seminary …Read More

  • The Rise of the Papacy by David Wells

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2005

    There are one billion Roman Catholics worldwide, one billion people who are subject to the Pope’s authority. How, one might ask, did all of this happen? The answer, I believe, is far more complex and untidy than Catholics have …Read More

  • Patrick: Missionary to Ireland by George Grant

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2005

    A small body of Christian believers has faithfully maintained a century-long Gospel legacy in the heart of the teeming city of Jakarta. Planted by Dutch missionaries during the colonial era, the Reformed Chapel has gracefully shown forth the love of …Read More

  • The Crusades by W. Robert Godfrey

    FROM TABLETALK | May 2011

    The Bible can be a dangerous book if misused and abused. In the history of the church, the misunderstanding of the Bible has led to many serious problems, ranging from false doctrine to legalistic customs and misdirected lives. One of …Read More

  • The Definition of Orthodoxy by Nick Needham

    FROM TABLETALK | April 2006

    The Arian controversy in the fourth century was arguably the greatest theological controversy in the history of the church. As Protestants, we might think that the Reformation controversies of the sixteenth century were the most momentous. Without wishing to minimize …Read More

  • The Pelagian Controversy by R.C. Sproul

    FROM TABLETALK | August 2005

    “Grant what Thou commandest, and command what Thou dost desire.” This passage from the pen of Saint Augustine of Hippo was the teaching of the great theologian that provoked one of the most important controversies in the history of the …Read More

  • Fallacious History by Carl Trueman

    FROM TABLETALK | March 2012

    One of the most pressing but invisible threats to Christian thinking at the present time is that of fallacious history. Like carbon monoxide, it can kill; you just do not notice it is happening until it is too late. Fallacious …Read More

  • Heresy in the Early Church by Harold Brown

    FROM TABLETALK | April 1994

    “There is nothing new under the sun,” the Preacher wrote (Eccl. 1:9). According to Professor Klaus Haacker of Wuppertal, Germany, one of the primary sources of error in theology is the desire to say something new. As a teacher …Read More

  • Heresy and Those Who Fought It by Frank Farrell

    FROM TABLETALK | April 1994

    “To murder the soul is worse than murdering the body, so the teaching of heresy should be punishable by death.” I have never forgotten this statement made to me 40 years ago by a monk in the Trappist monastery of …Read More