Miles CustisThe Christian life involves growth. The importance of maturing spiritually and growing deeper in our relationship with God cannot be overstated. However, many believers struggle to know exactly how to do that. How does one grow to be more like...
Ryan NelsonUnderstanding your spiritual roots plays a vital role in defining your identity as a Christian. Understanding the spiritual roots of the world around you is just as vital to evangelism. The writings and teachings that powerfully affect your daily...
Ray Deck IIIBiblical writers use several different word pictures to help us understand the power and function of Scripture. At different times, the Bible is compared to: Light (Psalm 119:105) A mirror (James 1:23) Fire (Jeremiah 23:29) A hammer (Jeremiah 23:29)...
Gabe MartiniIn the Orthodox Church, the fortieth day after Easter is celebrated as the day marking Christ’s ascension into heaven. The emphasis of this commemoration is our assurance not only that Jesus is truly the Son of God but that he has not left his...
Tayler BeedeCharles Hodge was one of the most influential theologians of the nineteenth century. During his time at Princeton Theological Seminary, Hodge instructed more than three thousand ministers, served as moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly in...
Logos StaffThe life of prayer for the child of God is worked by the Holy Spirit. JohnCalvin argues that it is through Christ and his work that the believer can now enter boldly before God and pray because the veil has been torn away between sinners and God...
John Calvin confirms in his Tracts that the Spirit is the witness, seal and earnest of the believer’s adoption. Scripture calls the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of adoption because… “he is the witness to us of the free benevolence of the God with...
Terry DelaneyWith a renewal of Reformed Theology spreading throughout Christendom in the last couple decades, it is truly to our benefit that we look to the past in order to understand how to move forward. This is aptly stated in the Introduction to each book in...
jake-belderLet me say first that we want you all to know that those of us who write things for this site are real people, and our contributions are often reflections both on our experiences in seminary and on the path of faith. With that said, I want to lead...
Ryan BurnsNot sure what’s going on, but it sounds intense. I’d suggest subscribing to the Said at Southern RSS to keep tabs on whatever develops… or at lest for further comments on what happened.
Fellow GtS writer, Jeff Patterson and I have been talking about Spirituality. It seems today everyone is spiritual. I remember reading an article in which atheists were describing themselves as spiritual. Jeff and I were talking specifically about...
Mark BriansShowing kindness to the sick from a distance—paying bills, meal trains—is surely not wrong, but what is interesting about the biblical command to visit the sick is the emphasis Scripture places on embodied presence. I was hungry and you gave me...
Wyatt GrahamWyatt Graham (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) serves as the executive director of The Gospel Coalition Canada. You can follow him on X at @wagraham. 1. Summa Theologica, by Thomas Aquinas Thomas, as Peter Kreeft put it, is the master...
Christopher KouThe word church occurs only three times in the Gospel accounts, each time in Matthew. The most definitional of these uses comes from Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus replies to him, And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock...
Peter KrolIf you search your Bible for the phrase Bible study, you won't find it. A big part of the problem is that the word Bible never occurs in most English Bibles. Even if you search for just the word study, you won’t find quite what you’re looking for...
Daniel R. HydeThe words in the creeds have proclaiming Jesus's return have echoed down the halls of history for nearly two millennia. Somewhere near the end of that hall, a side door was opened and a confusing sound was added. That sound was the teaching of a...
James-Michael SmithIn my last piece we looked at some qualities that make for a good study Bible. Now it’s time to look at some things that I’d love to see Bible publishers stop doing when putting together a study Bible. Though it's no longer the hallowed season of...
Mitch ChasePeople are afraid of demons. What are demons afraid of? Have you ever wondered? Maybe you would think it strange to imagine demons being afraid of anything. The accounts of demonic possession in the Gospels, and the attempts to represent such...
Kyle R. Hughes (PhD, Radboud University, Nijmegen) is the author of three books, including How the Spirit Became God: The Mosaic of Early Christian Pneumatology and Teaching for Spiritual Formation: A Patristic Approach to Christian Education in a...
Kelley MathewsShuffling along the dusty paths of ancient Israel, travelers and residents would inevitably stumble upon piles of rocks. A particular pile near Gilgal, however, showed evidence of being constructed with purpose. The mighty warrior Joshua had...
Nick KennicottThe name Reformed Baptist raises numbers of eyebrows. Some Christians believe the moniker is a contradiction in terms. Others think it simply refers to Baptists who are Calvinists. Nevertheless, despite the understandable confusion, Reformed...
Elyse Fitzpatrick“Imagine” is my least favorite Lennon song. Sadly, Lennon isn’t a dreamer at all in this song, though he claims that he is. He’s living without real imagination or hope, foolishly thinking that the answer to death and war, greed and hunger, is to be...
Matthew Y. EmersonJesus’s crucifixion and resurrection rightly get the emphasis in both academic and pastoral treatments of Christ’s work. The cross and the empty tomb are the crux of God’s work of salvation, the fulcrum on which everything else included in that...
Malcolm FoleyAmerican Christianity is, in many ways, a cultural and denominational hodgepodge. Colonization led to certain emphases among American Presbyterians, Anglicans, and Baptists. And as Pentecostalism, Methodism, and others were added to the American...
Blake AdamsFor Catholics, Orthodox, and many Protestants, Holy Week is the most sacred time of the year. Traditionally, it is more important than Christmas, as it focuses on the central event of the gospel: the death and resurrection of Jesus. Contents The...
JoAnna HoytEvery year new students walk into classrooms ready to build upon their first-year biblical language skills by learning how to exegete the Hebrew or Greek text. They are taught how to examine the nuances of words, the rules of grammar. They discover...
Elliot Ritzema is an editor at Lexham Press and a master of sacred theology student at Nashotah House Theological Seminary. He is the editor of Lexham’s Spurgeon Commentary series. He has a master’s of divinity degree from Regent College...
Tim PerryAnother Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has passed, and a recent picture of current Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, blessing Pope Francis has, at least in some quarters, generated controversy. Recent convert to Catholicism and former...
Stan ReevesCreeds and confessions are precious gifts to the church of the present from the church of the past, through the work of the Spirit. They summarize the beliefs Christians have studied, worked, debated—and even died—to state clearly from Scripture...
Michael F. BirdThe only thing taller than the Burj Khalifa is the stack of books I’m currently intending to read. I like to read. I like to read fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, news stories, human interest pieces, jokes, and Twitter threads. I like to read the...