Articles

Browse select Tabletalk articles and columns exploring themes and topics across a spectrum of relevant issues.

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  • The Rise of the Papacy by David Wells

    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 argued. …Read More

  • The Dawn of Reformation by Burk Parsons

    The brightest object in the sky, after the sun and moon, is the morning star. It appears about an hour before dawn. John Wycliffe (c. 1330-84) is often called the “Morning Star of the Reformation,” and for good reason, for …Read More

  • The Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy by R. Scott Clark

    On February 28, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI abdicated the papacy. Six days later, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a Jesuit priest and archbishop of Buenos Aires, was elected by the College of Cardinals and installed as Pope Francis I, bringing to a …Read More

  • The Fourteenth Century by Nicholas Needham

    The papacy had reached the zenith of its political power in Europe under Innocent III. His death in 1216 was followed by a period of eclipse and, finally, catastrophe. The popes continued to struggle for supremacy against Germany’s “Holy Roman” …Read More

  • The Morning Star of the Reformation by Stephen Nichols

    He had been dead and buried for a few decades, but the church wanted to make a point. His remains were exhumed and burned, a fitting end for the “heretic” John Wycliffe. Wycliffe once explained what the letters in the …Read More

  • The New Mendicant Orders by David Hogg

    From the earliest days of the medieval period, bishops were expected to preach regularly as they visited congregations throughout their dioceses, and in their absence, there was broad support for ordained presbyters (elders) to fill the vacancy. As in our …Read More

  • Peter Waldo and the Waldensians by W. Robert Godfrey

    By the twelfth century, the church in Western Europe was indeed powerful and impressive. In the emerging Gothic architecture, we can see something of the devotion of the people and the wealth of the bishops. In the developing scholastic theology, …Read More

  • An 11th Century Reformer by Burk Parsons

    According to tradition, following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, captured the English throne. As a result, Edgar the Atheling of England was unable to secure his rightful claim to the English …Read More

  • The Crusades by W. Robert Godfrey

    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 Great Schism of 1054 by Stephen Nichols

    You had to see it to believe it. During the pope’s September 2010 visit to the United Kingdom, one protester’s sign stood out, far out, from the others. In large markered letters on the back of a pizza box, the …Read More

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