The Church Archives - Gentleman Theologian

The Marian Dogmas and the Faith Once Delivered

By M.Ferris | July 17, 2023July 18, 2023 by M.Ferris

For both Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox, Mary occupies a significant place in devotional life. (Other sacramental traditions may honor her to lesser degrees, but more so than Protestants.) Protestants have been reluctant to afford her this same devotion for several reasons. Above all, the New Testament does not place the emphasis on her that approaches anything near what has developed in history. Secondly, such devotion detracts from the uniqueness of Christ as the…

Is the Church Necessary for Salvation?

By M.Ferris | June 6, 2023June 6, 2023 by M.Ferris

The church is an organism, not an organization. Ecclesiology is one of the more contested topics in theology. One can see this from the various polities that prevail. Episcopal, presbyterian, congregational all conceive of the church in a slightly different way. But even more basic than this is the idea of the church as an organization, an institution, and one that stands as the dispenser of grace to believers. The Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox…

What does “Deep in History” Really Mean?

By M.Ferris | March 1, 2023March 1, 2023 by M.Ferris

Cardinal John Henry Newman famously said “To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant.”[1] Newman seemed to refer to the institutional church and the rites and sacraments that came to prevail. Many apologists for high sacramentalism have offered similar arguments. What we see in history is not what “free churches” manifest. We see priests, bishops, archbishops, and the church occupying a central role in the Christian life. Along with this, the church…

Hello… NEWMAN. The Proper Assessment of Church History

By M.Ferris | November 25, 2022 by M.Ferris

John Henry Newman was a British churchman, a sometime member of the Oxford Tractarian movement. The movement was an attempt at course correction in the Anglican church at a time when it was moving left. They saw a recovery of tradition and traditionalism in worship as the way forward. Newman was one who didn’t stop there, however, but went on to join the Roman Catholic Church, and was eventually named a cardinal. Newman’s intellect and…

Is the Office of Priest Found in the New Testament?

By M.Ferris | October 2, 2022October 2, 2022 by M.Ferris

From time to time I have posted comments about the nature of ministry in the New Testament. Some have difficulty accepting the idea of a non-hierarchical ministry, but when we look at the Scriptures, this is what we find. I summarize this by saying that the New Testament never refers to Christian ministers as priests; this is a title reserved for all the people of God (or for the Lord Jesus alone.) The truth of…

What is Sacramentalism?

By M.Ferris | April 6, 2022 by M.Ferris

In a recent interview about a book I wrote, the interviewer asked me for a definition of sacramentalism. This is because in the book I use this term to describe a system, usually found in the hierarchical churches, that treats grace in a particular way. That way is to affirm that grace flows to the believer through the rites and rituals defined by the Church. In the case of the Roman Catholic Church, it goes…

Is There a Difference between Church Membership and Commitment?

By M.Ferris | November 9, 2021January 20, 2023 by M.Ferris

In a much of church culture, there is an emphasis on membership, as a way to get believers to commit to the local church. Yet membership and commitment are not synonymous, and looking at the distinction can help us understand the importance behind these ideas. Almost all local churches have a membership process, often entailing a class one takes, and then signing a covenant about member responsibilities. Usually (one hopes!) there is an interview…

Was Junia an Apostle?

By M.Ferris | June 11, 2021November 11, 2021 by M.Ferris

When dealing with the question of women’s roles in the church, many cite Romans 16:7 to demonstrate that women could and did serve as apostles in the early church. In the ESV, the verse reads “Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles.” Some have pointed to the ESV as a thumb-on-the-scale translation, in rendering the verse “They are well known to the apostles” instead of…

The Use and Abuse of Church History

By M.Ferris | November 18, 2019January 1, 2020 by M.Ferris

Church history is descriptive, not prescriptive. One of the main points of fissure between sacramental or hierarchical church traditions and those that are less so is the place of church history. Should history—tradition—play a definitive role in shaping the faith and practice for believers today? Or, should Scripture have the decisive function in our faith? If we decide that tradition and history must be set alongside Scripture as an equal authority, we are faced with…

You Don’t Need Office to Minister to the Body

By M.Ferris | August 23, 2019 by M.Ferris

Our view of ministry in the local church has been influenced by a lot of things. Scripture is among these, but the corporate world is often too influential. Listening to the “organizational effectiveness” mandarins makes one think that we need to place a premium on leadership. We should develop leaders, mentor them, give them opportunities to succeed and advance. But that mindset can be at odds with what we find in the New Testament. There,…