My Articles

This page contains a list of the articles I have written in particular subjects. The page is very big, so I have provided some jump links below to help people to navigate this page much more easily.

General Theology and Apologetics

Logic and Metaphysics

Roman Catholicism

Eastern Orthodoxy

Islam

Confessional Reformed Orthodoxy

Judaism

Theological Liberalism

General Theology, Apologetics, and Research

                                                                                          Alleged Bible "Contradictions"

Does God Tempt People? Genesis 22:1 and James 1:13 (Alleged Bible "Contradictions")

The Date of the Last Supper: Do John and the Synoptics Contradict Each Other?

The Genealogies of Jesus Christ Vindicated

                                                                                                 Biblical Reliability

The Authorship of the Gospel of Matthew

The Authorship of the Gospel of Mark

The Historical Reliability of Luke-Acts 

Luke 2:1-2 and the Census of Quirinius

The Date of the Last Supper: Do John and the Synoptics Contradict Each Other?

The Date of the Gospel of Thomas

                                                                                                Theology Proper

The Immutability of God

Refuting the Modal Collapse Argument against Divine Simplicity

The Incomprehensibility of God, Predication, and the Beatific Vision

The Predication and Classification of the Divine Attributes

A Brief Explanation of the Virtual Distinction in Thomistic Thought

The Formal Distinction in Scotus and Mastri

My Thoughts on the Essence-Energies Distinction

Divine Simplicity and Predication in the Cappadocian Fathers

                                                                                                 Anthropology

What is the "Image of God" in Man?

The Unity and Constitution of Man (Body and Soul)

The Nature of Original and Actual Sin

The Imputation of Adam's Sin

                                                                                               Covenant Theology

The Promises of the Covenant of Works

The Sacraments of the Covenant of Works

The Abrogation of the Covenant of Works

Overview of the Covenant of Grace

Historical Perspectives on God's Covenants

The State of Old Testament Believers

Is the Covenant of Grace Conditional?

The Essential Unity of the Covenant of the Grace

The Differences Between the Old and New Covenants

Deuteronomy 5 and the Unity of the Covenant

Analysis of the Noahic Covenant

                                                                                                      Christology

The Necessity of the Incarnation

Eutyches and the Double Consubstantiality of Christ

Scholastic Definitions of Subsistence (Thomism vs. Scotism)

Leontius of Jerusalem on Defining Hypostasis

Brief Notes on the Christology of Emperor Justinian

Important Questions about the Conception of Christ in the Womb of the Virgin Mary

The Two Operations/Energies of Christ

Notes on the Union of the Two Natures in Christ

The Life-Giving Flesh of Christ: Cyril of Alexandria and Reformed Orthodoxy

Aristotle, Thomism, and Duns Scotus on Quantity, Place, and Bodily Presence

The Concept of Alloiosis in Zwingli's Christology

Duns Scotus on the Semantics of the Communicatio Idiomatum

The Lutheran Misuse of Christological Distinctions

Thomas Aquinas and the Early Modern Thomists on the Number of 'Esse' in Christ

Duns Scotus on the Number of 'Esse' in Christ

The Sufferings of Christ's Soul

Gisbertus Voetius (1589-1676): The Sufferings of Christ's Soul during His Passion

The Office of Priesthood

The Origin of the Priesthood of Christ

Federal Transactions Between the Father and the Son

                                                                                                        Soteriology

The Necessity of Christ's Priesthood

Reformed Soteriology and Monothelitism: A Response to Robin Philips

The Doctrine of Effectual Calling 

                                                                                            Church Government and Polity

Scriptural Proofs for the Office of Ruling Elder

How do Synods and Ecclesiastical Rulings Bind the Conscience?

Debates at Westminster on the Office of Teacher/Doctor

Presbyterian Government: Jerusalem and Ephesus

Anglican Recognition of Presbyterian Orders

Ignatius of Antioch and the Office of the Episcopate 
Presbyters in Alexandria and the Right to Ordain

Chorepiscopi in the Early Church and Presbyteral Ordination

Superintendents in Scottish Presbyterian Polity

Papal Approval of Presbyteral Ordination

Ecclesiastical Power and Local Congregations

Degrees of Excommunication within Congregations and Presbyteries

                                                                                                 Church-State Relations

The Civil Government's Authority Around the Church (Circa Sacra)

A Brief Explanation and Defense of General Equity

The Civil Punishment of Arch-Heretics and False Teachers (contra Anabaptists)

The Original Meaning of the First Amendment

State-Level Cases on Religious Liberty

National Days of Prayer and Thanksgiving & Congressional Chaplains

                                                                                               Notes on Church History

The Origins of the Arian Heresy (Notes on Church History)

Nicaea and the Arian Controversy (Notes on Church History)

The Nestorian Controversy and the Council of Ephesus (Notes on Church History) - Part 1

The Nestorian Controversy and the Council of Ephesus (Notes on Church History) - Part 2

The Council of Chalcedon (Notes on Church History)

Monothelitism and the 6th Ecumenical Council (Notes on Church History)

The Iconoclast Controversy and Nicaea II (Notes on Church History)

The Council of Ferrara-Florence (Notes on Church History)

Logic and Metaphysics

Giacomo Zabarella (1533-1589): The Fourth Figure of the Categorial Syllogism

Robert Sanderson (1587-1663): Modal Propositions in Logic

Zacharias Ursinus (1534-1583): Rules for Modal Syllogisms

John of St. Thomas (1589-1644): The Three Operations of the Intellect

John of St. Thomas (1589-1644): Predicamental Being and Accidents

John of St. Thomas (1589-1644): Do Forms Reduce to Prime Matter  in Substantial Generation?

Scotist Perspectives on the Relationship between Being and the Ten Categories

Roman Catholicism

                                                                                                     General Issues

Roman Catholic Polemics are Nothing New!

"To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant." (Or so we thought!)

Jesuit Theologian Jean Galot Teaches the Kenotic Heresy

                                                    

                                                                                          The Papacy and Ecclesiology

Church Fathers: The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven were Given to All the Apostles (not just Peter)

Church Fathers: All Bishops are Successors of Peter

How Galatians 1 Proves That Cephas [Κηφᾶς] is Peter

What are the Marks of the True Church?

Is Apostolic Succession a Mark of the True Church?

Refuting Papal Proof-Texts: John 21:15

What D.A. Carson ACTUALLY said regarding Peter as the "Rock" in Matthew 16:18

The Patristic View of the Bishop of Rome: Answering Robert Bellarmine [Part 1]

The Patristic View of the Bishop of Rome: Answering Robert Bellarmine [Part 2] 

The Patristic View of the Bishop of Rome: Answering Robert Bellarmine [Part 3]

Cyprian, Firmilian, and Pope Stephen: An Argument Against the Papacy 

Do the Canons of Sardica Prove the Papacy?

Does Clement of Rome's Letter to the Corinthians Prove the Papacy?

Cyprian and the Papacy: The Case of Basilides and Martian

Pope Felix's Excommunication of Acacius: A Proof for Rome's Universal Jurisdiction?

Chalcedon and the Papacy: Presidency, Appeals, and Canon 28

Cyril of Alexandria, Pope Celestine, and the Excommunication of Nestorius

Pope Vigilius and Papal Infallibility

Does the Formula of Hormisdas Prove the Papacy?

Augustine and the Papacy: The Case of Apiarius

The Case of Pope Honorius: A Comprehensive Study

The Lateran Synod of 649 and Papal Infallibility

Jerome's Letter 15 to Pope Damasus: A Proof for the Papacy?

Did Nicaea Receive Papal Confirmation?

The Council of Ephesus (431 AD) and the Papacy

The Infallibility of Church Councils - Response to Robert Bellarmine

                                                                                 Sola Scriptura (Bible and Tradition)

The Old Testament and Sola Scriptura

A Refutation of the "Canon Argument" Against Sola Scriptura

St. John Chrysostom and Sola Scriptura

Cyril of Jerusalem and Sola Scriptura

Athanasius on Scripture, Tradition, and the Church

Gregory Nazianzen on Scripture, Tradition, and the Church

St. Augustine on Scripture and Tradition [Part 1]

St. Augustine on Scripture and Tradition [Part 2]

Ambrose on Scripture and Tradition [Part 1]

Ambrose on Scripture and Tradition [Part 2]

Tertullian on Scripture and Tradition [Part 1]

Tertullian on Scripture and Tradition [Part 2]

Hilary of Poitiers on Scripture and Tradition [Part 1]

Hilary of Poitiers on Scripture and Tradition [Part 2]

Did Gregory of Nyssa Teach Sola Scriptura? [Part 1]

Did Gregory of Nyssa Teach Sola Scriptura? [Part 2]

The Myth of 33,000 Protestant Denominations

The Church Fathers on the Perspicuity of Scripture [Part 1]

The Church Fathers on the Perspicuity of Scripture [Part 2]

Basil of Caesarea on Scripture and Tradition [Part 1]

Basil of Caesarea on Scripture and Tradition [Part 2]

Theodoret on Scripture and Tradition [Part 1]

Theodoret on Scripture and Tradition [Part 2]

Epiphanius on Scripture and Tradition from the Panarion (Medicine Chest Against All Heresies)

                                                                                                 The Apocrypha

The Cessation of Prophecy and Prophets in Ancient Judaism

A Refutation of the Alexandrian Canon Hypothesis

Melito of Sardis on the OT Canon

Cyril of Jerusalem and Athanasius on the OT Canon

Amphilochius of Iconium and Epiphanius on the OT Canon

Rufinus of Aquileia on the OT Canon

The Canon of Gregory Nazianzus

John of Damascus' Biblical Canon

The Synod of Laodicea and the OT Canon

Medieval Christian Theologians on the OT Canon

The Canon of Cardinal Cajetan

                                                                                                  Justification

The meaning of λογίζομαι in Romans 4 (specifically verse 3)

Exegesis of Romans 2:6-11

The Meaning of οὐ μὴ λογίσηται in Romans 4:8

Ambrosiaster's Doctrine of Justification

Joseph Fitzmeyer on Romans 5:1 ("Having Been Justified")

The Sin of Concupiscence - Response to Bellarmine

Zacharias Ursinus on the Necessity of Good Works

John Owen: Different Types of Imputation

Gisbertus Voetius (1589-1676): Disputations on the Doctrine of Justification   

                                              

                                             Mary (Immaculate Conception, Bodily Assumption, Perpetual Virginity, etc.)

J.N.D Kelly's Views on the Early Church Beliefs Regarding the Immaculate Conception

Pope Gregory the Great and the Immaculate Conception

Did Gregory of Nyssa Teach the Immaculate Conception?

What did Epiphanius believe about Mary?

The Church Fathers on Psalm 132:8 and the Ark of the Covenant

The Woman of Revelation 12 - The View of the Church Fathers

Did Augustine Believe Mary was Sinless?

Fulgentius of Ruspe (AD 460 - 533): Mary is not Sinless

Ambrose and the Immaculate Conception

Pope John XXII (1234-1344) and the Immaculate Conception

A Tridentine Cardinal on the Church Fathers and the Immaculate Conception

Did Martin Luther Have a Life-Long Belief in the Immaculate Conception? [Part 1]

Did Martin Luther Have a Life-Long Belief in the Immaculate Conception? [Part 2]

Alleged Early Testimonies to the Bodily Assumption of Mary

                                                  The Eucharist (Transubstantiation, the Sacrifice of the Mass, etc.)

Did Augustine Teach Transubstantiation? [Part 1]

Did Augustine Teach Transubstantiation? [Part 2]

Did Augustine Teach Transubstantiation? [Part 3]

Did Cyril of Jerusalem Teach Transubstantiation?

Theodore of Mopsuestia on John 6

Documentation for Pope Gelasius' Denial of Transubstantiation

Melchizedek and the Sacrifice of the Mass [Part 1]

Melchizedek and the Sacrifice of the Mass [Part 2]

Exegesis and Analysis of Hebrews 7:1-28

Malachi 1:11 and the Roman Mass [Part 1]

Malachi 1:11 and the Roman Mass [Part 2]

Is the Paschal Lamb a Type of the Mass?

Why the Roman Mass is an Abomination (Biblical and Theological Arguments)

Francis Turretin: The Matter, Form, and Consecration of the Lord's Supper

4 Church Fathers Abused by RC Apologists for the Roman Mass

Cardinal Cajetan on the Eucharistic Words of Institution

The Metaphysical Absurdity of Transubstantiation

                                                       

                                                                                                       Purgatory

Is Purgatory Taught in the Old Testament? (No)

Matthew 5:25-26 - the "Last Farthing" and Purgatory

Matthew 12:32 - An Allusion to Purgatory?

An Exegesis of 1 Corinthians 3:10-15

Why the Early Church Prayed for the Dead

Did Augustine Teach Purgatory?

Did Cyprian Teach Purgatory?

                                                                                                                           Veneration of Images and Relics

A Refutation of Common Arguments for Iconography

Did the Church Fathers Teach the Veneration and Worship of Images?

The Synod of Elvira and Iconography

                                                       Refuting Myths about Protestantism and the Reformation

The Myth of 33,000 Protestant Denominations

Did Martin Luther add "alone" to Romans 3:28?

Did Martin Luther Have a Life-Long Belief in the Immaculate Conception? [Part 1]

Did Martin Luther Have a Life-Long Belief in the Immaculate Conception? [Part 2]

Did Luther View Himself as the Protestant Pope?

Was John Calvin a Nestorian?

John Calvin and the Ecumenical Creeds: The 1537 Disputation with Pierre Caroli

Reformed Soteriology and Monothelitism: A Response to Robin Philips

                                                                                                 Rebuttals 

Responses to Dave Armstrong

Responses to Robert Sungenis

Responses to Robert Bellarmine

Eastern Orthodoxy

Is Apostolic Succession a Mark of the True Church?

My Thoughts on the Essence-Energies Distinction

Divine Simplicity and Predication in the Cappadocian Fathers

Brief Thoughts on Deification

                                                           

                                                                         Penal Substitutionary Atonement

Penal Substitution in the Early Church Fathers

                                                                                      Liturgical Issues

A Refutation of Infant Communion (Herman Witsius)

Islam

                                                                         General Issues and Research Notes on Islam

A Devastating Quote from Muslim Scholar Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi

Exposing the "Open Minded Christian" [a closet Muslim]

Notable Mu'tazilite Theologians and Their Views (Notes on Islamic History and Theology)

Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari (Notes on Islamic History and Theology)

Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (Notes on Islamic History and Theology)

                                                                             The Trinity & the Deity of Christ

 

Surah 23:91's Misrepresentation of Christian Doctrine

John 8:58 in Light of Muslim Objections

The Old Testament's Witness to the Divinity of the Messiah

Did James Believe Jesus was God? Some NT Scholars' Opinions

The Holy Spirit is God: Some Biblical Proofs

The Early Church Fathers on the Holy Spirit

NT Scholars on John 17:5 as a proof of Jesus' pre-existence

The Son of Man in Daniel 7, Judaism, and the Synoptic Gospels [Part 1]

The Son of Man in Daniel 7, Judaism, and the Synoptic Gospels [Part 2]

The Son of Man in Daniel 7, Judaism, and the Synoptic Gospels [Part 3]

Romans 6:9 Disproves the Deity of Christ? 

Irenaeus Believed in the Eternal Preexistence of the Son

The Deity of Christ and the Qur'an

λατρεύω given to Jesus in Revelation 22:3

An Exegesis and Analysis of Philippians 2:6-11 [Part 1]

An Exegesis and Analysis of Philippians 2:6-11 [Part 2]

"The Voice of the Lord" in Genesis 3:8 as an Appearance of the Son of God in the OT

The Omniscience of the Lord Jesus

The Biblical Evidence for Jesus' Divine Sovereignty over the Cosmos

The Worship Given to the Lord Jesus in the NT [Part 1]

The Worship Given to the Lord Jesus in the NT [Part 2]

Biblical Scholars and Commentators on John 20:28

An Exegesis of John 5:19-26 - A Testimony to the Deity of Christ [Part 1]

An Exegesis of John 5:19-26 - A Testimony to the Deity of Christ [Part 2] 

The Memra of YHWH in Jewish Literature

Ignatius of Antioch and the Deity of Christ

Jeremiah 23:5-6: A Prophecy of the Divine Messiah

The Deity of the Lord Jesus and the Hebrew Bible [Part 1]

The Deity of the Lord Jesus and the Hebrew Bible [Part 2]

The Deity of the Lord Jesus and the Hebrew Bible [Part 3]

The Deity of the Lord Jesus and the Hebrew Bible [Part 4]

The Messiah's Preexistence in Jewish Sources

Granville Sharpe's Rule and the Deity of Christ

Important Questions about the Conception of Christ in the Womb of the Virgin Mary

Studies on the Logical "Problem" of the Trinity - The Main Modern Solutions to LPT

St. Gregory of Nyssa's Solution to the Logical Problem of the Trinity [Part 1]

St. Gregory of Nyssa's Solution to the Logical Problem of the Trinity [Part 2]

St. Gregory of Nyssa's Solution to the Logical Problem of the Trinity [Part 3]

The Necessity of the Incarnation

                                                                                    Allah and Muhammad

The Hands of Allah

The Deification of Muhammad

                                                                       Alleged Prophecies of Muhammad in the Bible

Is Muhammad the Parakletos?

                                                   The Crucifixion of Jesus (its Historicity)

1 Corinthians 15:3-8 as Pre-Pauline Tradition

Liberal Scholar Dale Allison on the Crucifixion of Jesus

  

 

                                                                             The Qur'an and the Bible

The Qur'anic View of Christian Scripture [Part 1]

The Qur'anic View of Christian Scripture [Part 2]

Muhammad's Confirmation of the Torah

Ibn Abbas' View of the Bible

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah on the Hebrew Bible

Classical Muslim Scholars on the Meaning of "Tahrif" and the Bible

                                                         Other Islamic Objections Against Christianity and the Bible

Al-Tabari and other Muslim scholars on David Committing Adultery

Were the Ebionites proto-Muslims?

                                                                                                     Rebuttals

Responses to Ahmed Deedat

Responses to Ijaz Ahmad

Responses to Ibn Anwar

Responses to Hamza Myatt

Responses to Zakir Hussain

Responses to Mohammed Hijab

Responses to the "Answering Christianity" Website

Confessional Reformed Orthodoxy

Answering Arminian Proof-Texts: 2 Peter 2:1

Was John Calvin a Nestorian?

The Church Fathers on the Perseverance of the Saints

Amandus Polanus: Comparison of Election and Reprobation

Gisbertus Voetius (1589-1676) on Free Choice and Necessity

Gisbertus Voetius: Middle Knowledge and Structural Moments in God

Rational Spontaneity or Indifference? - Refuting the Jesuit/Arminian View of Free Will

Samuel Rutherford and Amadus Polanus: The Nature of the Divine Permission of Sin

Reformed Divines on God's Permission of the Fall

Jacob Arminius and the Heidelberg Catechism

Martin Luther on Reprobation

The Doctrines of Grace in Saint Augustine's Writings

Paul's Use of Exodus 33:19 in Romans 9

The Importance of Rom. 9:14 for Understanding Paul's Argument

Romans 9: Individual or Corporate Election?

The Doctrine of Effectual Calling 

Samuel Rutherford on Efficacious Grace in Conversion

The Lombardian Formula: An Anthology of Reformed Orthodox Perspectives

Hypothetical Universalism in Ambrose of Milan

Introduction to the Covenant of Grace

Historical Perspectives on God's Covenants

The Essential Unity of the Covenant of the Grace

A Response to Gavin Ortlund on Infant Baptism

The Differences Between the Old and New Covenants

Deuteronomy 5 and the Unity of the Covenant

The Life-Giving Flesh of Christ: Cyril of Alexandria and Reformed Orthodoxy

Gisbertus Voetius (1589-1676): The Sufferings of Christ's Soul during His Passion

Judaism (Proving Jesus to be the Messiah)

Addressing Recent Controversies Concerning Antisemitism and Jews

Jewish Sources on Isaiah 9:6

The Meaning of עַלְמָה in Isaiah 7:14

Gisbertus Voetius: Disputation on the Advent of the Messiah (Gen. 49:10)

The Suffering Servant of Isaiah 52:13-53:12

The Glory of the Second Temple (Haggai 2:3-9)

The Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9 [Part 1]: Issues in Translation

The Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9 [Part 2]: Chronology and Calculation

The Messiah's Preexistence in Jewish Sources

The Origins of the Mishnah and Tannaim

The Formation and Redaction of the Babylonian Talmud

The 13 Exegetical Rules of Rabbi Ishmael

Four Arguments Against the Oral Torah

Refuting Common Rabbinic Arguments for the Oral Torah

The Transmission of the Oral Torah (according to Rabbinic Judaism)

Jesus' Resurrection Prophesied in the Old Testament

Johannes Hoornbeeck (1617-1666): Rabbinic Judaism and the Oral Torah

Talmudic Traditions about the Advent of the Messiah

Gisbertus Voetius on the Jewish Kabbalah 

The Genealogies of Christ Vindicated

Theological Liberalism

HuffPost's Cringeworthy Article Regarding Biblical Interpretation