The Four Marks of the Church & Why They Still Matter

John H. Armstrong March 23rd, 2010

The classical theological view has always been that unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity are the “four marks” of the Christian church. Various evangelicals attempt to add “other” marks to these, some even popularly speaking of “nine marks of the church.” I have no dispute with this notion in terms of a general consideration of the work of the church but there are not “nine” marks of the church in the confessional and historical sense. The danger comes when “nine marks, … (Read More)

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Forgiveness & Unity - Tony Campolo on SBE

Erik Guzman August 7th, 2009

Join Steve Brown and his good buddy Tony Campolo on this edition of SBE as they hang out and talk about The Shack, uptight Christians, forgiveness and unity.

(If you're on the front page of the site, click "Read More" to see audio player options.)

You’ve probably seen Tony talking about politics and religion on Nightline, CNN, MSNBC, Politically Incorrect, etc. He's Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Eastern University and the Founder and President of the Evangelical Ass … (Read More)

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Clement on Unity & Schism

John H. Armstrong August 4th, 2009

The church father, Clement of Rome (died c. A. D. 90 to 100), intervened in a local congregational schism while serving as an early church overseer in the first century. Some historians believe that this same Clement was identified by Paul in Philippians 4:3. That may be. Later tradition saw Clement as the third pope, something that I do not believe is terribly clear in the record that we actually possess from the era in which he lived and died.

In Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians (this … (Read More)

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The Case for Civility - Dr. Os Guinness on SBE

Erik Guzman April 4th, 2008

The world is being torn apart by religious extremists, divisive political rhetoric, shrill secularists and uptight culture warriors. But how do we hold on to our deepest beliefs while living together with our deepest differences (especially those of a religious and ideological nature)?

Dr. Os Guinness joined us this week to answer that question and talk about his new book, The Case for Civility: And Why America's Future Depends on It. Use one of the options at the bottom of this post to l … (Read More)

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Finding the Good Stuff: Discovering The Christian Year

Michael Spencer March 17th, 2008

I grew up in the 1960's in a small city in Western Kentucky among fundamentalist Baptists who were sure their kind were the only Christians on the planet. My ignorance of the broader Christian world was too abysmal to be described with normal adjectives.

When I became aware of other kinds of Christians- around 1972- I was frightened of them. Methodists actually scared me. My best friend was an Episcopalian. He came to my church all the time. I would have sooner asked for a root canal than g … (Read More)

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