This January’s issue of Credo Magazine, “In Christ Alone,” argues for the exclusivity of the gospel, especially in light of the movement known as inclusivism. This issue seeks to answer questions like: Can those who have never heard the gospel of Christ be saved? Will everyone be saved in the end or will some spend [...]
Category: Nathan Finn
This week and next, the Credo blog will be highlighting papers by different Credo contributors delivered at ETS this past week. To start us off is Nathan Finn’s paper: THE MAKING OF A BAPTIST UNIVERSALIST- THE CURIOUS CASE OF ELHANAN WINCHESTER. Finn is an outstanding historian and a Baptist historian at that. Finn begins his [...]
By Nathan Finn We’ve all heard the horror stories. Some of us have been the horror stories. A student grows up in a Bible-believing church where she has professed faith in Christ and participated in a numerous programs designed to help nurture her in that faith. By the time she graduates from high school, she [...]
By Nathan A. Finn Most evangelical Christians are in favor of revival. This is in part because of the many ways evangelicals in the English-speaking world have been shaped (for better and worse) by the history and theology of spiritual awakenings. Nevertheless, despite a generally pro-revival posture, it seems to me that evangelicals don’t agree [...]
By Nathan Finn One of the perennial debates among Baptist Christians centers upon the relationship between baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Historically, Baptists have argued that “New Testament” baptism—the full immersion of a professing disciple after his or her conversion—is prerequisite to participating in the Lord’s Supper. In more recent years, a growing number of [...]
By Nathan Finn One of the complaints I sometimes hear from students is that their church history and Baptist history classes are not “practical” enough. Instead of asking, with Tertullian, “what does Athens have to do with Jerusalem?” many of them want to know what any of it has to do with ministry in our [...]
By Nathan Finn This week marks the beginning of the fall semester at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. This post is adapted from one my early lectures in my Church History I class. Nothing like explaining to several dozen Southern Baptist students that there is great value in the Patristic creedal tradition! If we are going [...]
By Nathan Finn Baptists have always been a confessional people. John Smyth and Thomas Helwys, the founders of the General Baptist movement, each wrote personal confessions of faith that provide us with a glimpse into their convictions and probably the convictions of their churches. Seven Particular Baptist Churches in London adopted the First London Confession [...]
by Matthew Barrett I fell in love with historical theology the first time I laid eyes on her. We met in an undergraduate course on The History of Christian Thought. In that class, we read a well-written textbook that provided a narrative introduction to the topic. We also spent time reading primary source texts from [...]
by Nathan Finn In recent years, I’ve personally interacted with hundreds of current and recently graduated seminary students, and not just at Southeastern Seminary. These brothers and sisters in Christ are committed to serving God in all kinds of ministry contexts. In the five years I’ve been teaching, I’ve observed an interesting trend, especially among [...]
by Nathan Finn As a professor, most of the books I read deal with topics I’m interested in from a scholarly standpoint. But every summer, I try to devote a portion of my reading time to books related to “practical ministry” such as preaching, evangelism, counseling, and pastoral leadership. In the past few days, I’ve [...]
by Nathan Finn Like most Baptists, I would argue the biblical terms translated as overseer, bishop, elder, and pastor are synonyms used to describe a man who has been set apart for the primary teaching, leading, and shepherding office in a local congregation. For that reason, in this post I’ll use the terms pastor and [...]
