Well it looks like I'm going to have the opportunity for my first live, moderated debate. My opponent will be Garret Boyer, a sophomore at Tabor College. We don't have an exact thesis for the debate yet, but basically the debate will be over the issue of whether or not baptism is necessary for salvation. Mr. Boyer will take the affirmative and I will of course take the negative.
I'm excited for this opportunity to defend the gospel of Christ in a public, acedemic setting. This issue is an old debate amongst various denominations of protestants and Roman Catholics. I'm glad to stand for the gospel of Jesus Christ and declare that salvation is by God's grace through faith alone.
There are still a lot of details to be worked out like when and where, finding a moderator, agreeing on the format of the debate and so on. I appreciate your prayers as I begin to study the issue in depth and prepare for this defense of the gospel.
I'll inform you of the details as they come together.
God Bless,
Jacob
Ephesians 2:8-9
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
That's great Jacob. Congratulations on the privilege.
Is this only a doctrine held by the "Church of Christ" churches in the US, as we have "Church of Christ" churches here in Australia but I am not sure if they believe in baptismal regeneration?
Interesting question. I'm not sure whether the "Church of Christ" in Australia is the same denomination as the one in America. There is also more than one kind of Church of Christ denomination in the USA and I'm not sure if all of them hold to baptismal regeneration or not.
I would guess not, becuase if memory serves me, the other COC denomination is extremely liberal and almost universalism in their message. I could be wrong about that though.
This church of Christ that Boyer is a part of is ultra conservative. There is no musical instruments in their worship, communion is taken every time they meet, and they are certainly not universalists. Some of them (not all) are actually more or less of the opinion that only church of Christ are saved. They consider themselves a "restoration movement" claiming that the church fell into apostasy. Rings similar to mormons in that respect, although the COC theology is much closer to orthodoxy than LDS. And some COC churches I would say are not as "cult like" as others. And it sounds like the issue of baptismal regeneration is starting to be a debated issue in their own ranks.
Thanks for the clarification. The COC I had in mind is definitely not conservative and if anything has gone the way of being Charismatic.
Gene Cook has written a book on baptismal regeneration in the COC, although I have not read it.
Post a Comment