Reformed Christian Studies

Presented by Ligonier Ministries (YouTube) Description: Christians ought to submit to the authority given them by Christ. But what happens when those in authority teach things contrary to the Word of God? Is there a higher court to which we can appeal? The answer is yes. The appeal was made in the sixteenth century and the motion still carries. Reformers call this Sola Scriptura. That’s the Latin slogan for Scripture alone. Dr. Sproul teaches us about this in the message entitled “Scripture Alone.” Direct Link:  Scripture Alone: What is Reformed Theology? with R.C. Sproul - YouTube

By Barry York - Posted at Gentle Reformation: Reformed churches say they believe in sola Scriptura , or Scripture alone. This phrase means they teach that the Bible alone is sufficient as the ultimate authority for the Christian. How might this doctrine be briefly explained to another? Here is an attempt to do so. We must be careful to distinguish what we mean when we make the statement that God's Word, the Bible, is our only authority. Many well-meaning Christians make statements such as "We have no creed but Christ" or "We do not follow confessions, only the Bible." These statements are usually intended to mean that we do not need - or even should disdain - church creeds because they are "the teachings of men." We agree that insofar as a doctrine is not faithful to the Scriptures, it should be avoided. However, the Lord has blessed the church down through the ages with Spirit-filled teachers of His Word. Where they have given us teachings that a

By Persis - Posted at Out of the Ordinary : Sola Scriptura : the teaching that Scripture is the Church's only infallible and sufficient rule for deciding issues of faith and practices that involve doctrines. A friend on Facebook posted a link to the Heidelblog - Sola Scripture ≠ Nuda Scriptura . I wasn't familiar with the term, Nuda or Solo Scriptura , so I read the post, which says: Evangelical Christians in North America sometimes misunderstand the Reformation doctrine of sola Scriptura to mean that the Bible is the Christian’s only theological resource, that it can and should be denuded of its churchly context (hence nuda Scriptura ). Such an understanding is altogether incorrect.... Calvin believed that holy Scripture as the only infallible rule of faith and practice should serve as the final authority by which to judge Christian doctrine and practice, but it was not his only resource for theology...He recognized the strategic importance of demonstrating the con

Athanasius of Alexandria - Wikipedia By Nathan Busenitz - Posted at The Master's Seminary : In his denial of the deity of Christ, Arius was arguably the most notorious heretic of the early church . Though Arius’s heretical views were soundly condemned by the Council of Nicaea (in A.D. 325), the controversy he sparked raged for another fifty years throughout the Roman Empire. During those tumultuous decades, the defenders of Trinitarian orthodoxy often found themselves outnumbered and out of favor with the imperial court. Yet they refused to compromise. Among them, most famously, stood Athanasius of Alexandria—exiled on five different occasions for his unwavering commitment to the truth. He was joined by the Cappadocian Fathers: Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzas, and Gregory of Nyssa. But how did these early Christian leaders know that the doctrine they were defending was, in fact, a truth worth fighting for? How did they know they were right and the Arians were wrong? W