Why Calvinism Misunderstands Biblical Election: What about Romans 9?
A lot of people assume Romans 9 obviously teaches the Calvinist doctrine of unconditional election. They think it means that God selected...
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Matt O'Reilly
2 min read
NT Bibliography and Resources
All serious students of the scriptures should make a habit of regular reading of good books about the Bible. It is of particular...
Matt O'Reilly
2 min read
What About the New Birth?
The moniker “born again” has become an almost universal term to identify people with a generally evangelical Christian faith and...
Matt O'Reilly
2 min read
Justification and Hebrew Syntax
Genesis 15:6 is a central text for the Christian doctrine of Justification. When Paul developed his understanding of Justification in...
Matt O'Reilly
4 min read
Sunday and the Sabbath
Like many Christians, I grew up with a general understanding of Sunday as the Christian Sabbath. I perceive this position to be rather...
Matt O'Reilly
4 min read
Yeah…But Which Context?
As a seminary student I hear a lot about contextualization. It has become something of a buzz word in contemporary evangelicalism....
Matt O'Reilly
3 min read
Arminians, Scripture, and the Perseverance of the Saints
Arminians are sometimes characterized as believing that a true Christian can commit apostasy and fall irreparably away from grace and...
Matt O'Reilly
2 min read
Election in 1 Thessalonians
In the opening verses of 1 Thessalonians, Paul declares his knowledge of God’s divine choosing of the Christians in Thessalonica, “For we...
Matt O'Reilly
3 min read
Prevenient Grace in the Early Church?
Prevenient grace is that grace which God gives a person prior to their conversion. Prevenient simply means “preceding.” Prevenient grace...
Matt O'Reilly
3 min read
Naming God?
Some of the mainline Protestant denominations have struggled with the issue of God language as of late. Out of fear and frustration that...
Matt O'Reilly
2 min read
Purpose or Choice and Whose Is It? Another Look at Romans 8:28
“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NRSV,...
Matt O'Reilly
1 min read
Mohler and Tooley on United Methodist Renewal
Al Mohler recently had Mark Tooley as a guest on his radio program to discuss the recent decision of the United Methodist Church to...
Matt O'Reilly
2 min read
The Mercy of Penal Substitution: Recovering a Trinitarian Model of Atonement
The doctrine of Atonement has been a hot topic in recent years and a particular model of the atonement, Penal Substitution, has come...
Matt O'Reilly
2 min read
United Methodist Reform…How Do We Do It?
I just read a post at the 9 Marks blog about a remark made by Al Mohler to a group of “twenty-somethings.” He remarked that “a young man...
Matt O'Reilly
2 min read
2 Peter on Atonement and Perseverance
I’m presently reading 2 Peter and have come across a couple of points worth noting regarding the nature of the atonement and the...
Matt O'Reilly
3 min read
McGrath-Hitchens Debate
Here is a link to a recent debate on Christianity and Atheism between biochemist and theologian Alister McGrath and author Christopher...
Matt O'Reilly
3 min read
The Goodness of God and the Problem of Evil
The “Problem of Evil” is constantly aimed against Christianity in an effort to disprove the existence of God. The so-called problem goes...
Matt O'Reilly
4 min read
Which Comes First: the water or the Spirit?
Some of our friends in the baptist tradition are presently having a discussion over whether or not a paedobaptist (infant baptizer)...
Matt O'Reilly
2 min read
"This is my Father’s World"
Naomi and I took a short trip to Cincinnati over the last two days. A short get-a-way is always good before getting back into the fall...
Matt O'Reilly
1 min read
A first time for everything…
This marks the inaugural post of my new blog. Introductory matters first…My wife Naomi and I live in Wilmore, KY where I am a student at...
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