Church History

Two Views on Church Discipline: Protestant vs. Roman Catholic

By Jeremy Kimble | 9Marks Journal: The Reformation and Your Church | 09.26.2017

How does a Protestant understanding of church discipline differ from Roman Catholicism’s?

What Your Church Members Should Know About the Reformation

By Shawn Wright | 9Marks Journal: The Reformation and Your Church | 09.26.2017

A brief overview of important, Reformation-related people and events.

Did the Reformation Recover the Great Commission?

By Michael A. G. Haykin | 9Marks Journal: The Reformation and Your Church | 09.26.2017

It’s well known that the Reformation entailed a recovery of core doctrines regarding salvation and worship. Did it also involve a recovery of the Great Commission?

Two Views on Church Authority: Protestant vs. Roman Catholic

By Gregg R. Allison | 9Marks Journal: The Reformation and Your Church | 09.26.2017

Think of a three-legged stool. Now imaginatively label one of those legs “Scripture,” label the second leg “Tradition,” and label the third leg “Magisterium.”

A Brief Look at John Calvin on Imputation

By Thomas R. Schreiner | 9Marks Journal: The Reformation and Your Church | 09.26.2017

Calvin summarizes well the Protestant doctrine of imputation, a doctrine which has continued to be a great comfort and strength for believers and for those who are heirs of the Reformation.

Four Ways the Reformation Changed Church History

By Alex Duke | 9Marks Journal: The Reformation and Your Church | 09.26.2017

Luther and his fellow Protestant reformers changed the course of church history. How so? Let me name four.

The Five Solas: An Interview with Matthew Barrett

By Matthew Barrett | 9Marks Journal: The Reformation and Your Church | 09.26.2017

The Five Solas series is to help Christians understand the historical and biblical context of the five solas and how to live out the relevance of Reformation theology today.

Book Review: Church Order in the New Testament, by Eduard Schweizer

Review by Simeon Williams | 09.11.2017

Schweizer’s arguments for a perpetually developing polity are unpersuasive because they depend on faulty arguments regarding differences among the apostles.

Book Review: A Brief History of Sunday, by Justo González

Review by Paul Alexander | 09.01.2017

Should Sundays be more like a funeral or a festival?

Movie Review—Luther: The Life and Legacy of the German Reformer, by Stephen McCaskell

Review by Nate Keeler | 08.11.2017

With the 500th year of the Protestant Reformation upon us we have a unique opportunity to pique the interest of our church members.

Lessons Learned from Church Planting by Peaceable Division

By Colin Clark | 9Marks Journal: Church Mergers and Plants | 06.20.2017

Our three-year old church had 84 members. In order to plant a church, we split in half.

Book Review: The Crook in the Lot, by Thomas Boston

Review by Eric Beach | 06.05.2017

This is an excellent book from a a pastor about the purposes and plans of God through hardships in our lives.

Lessons on Pastoring from Martin Bucer

By Eric Beach | 05.04.2017

Martin Bucer (1491–1551) isn’t as well known as John Calvin or Martin Luther, but during the 16th century Bucer’s writings and reform of the church in Strasbourg influenced many

Book Review: Apostolicity, by John G. Flett

Review by Guy Prentiss Waters | 04.17.2017

For centuries, Christians across generations have confessed they believe in “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” Though these words professedly unite the church, there are profound disagreements concerning their meaning.

The Triumph and Tragedy of Anglicanism’s First African Bishop

By Hunter Guthrie | 02.22.2017

What can we learn from Samuel Crowther, the Anglican Church’s first African bishop?