It’s been argued that Jesus Himself, cited by St. John in the book of Revelation (written around 95 AD), taught monepiscopacy (the notion of one bishop overseeing a city or region). In Revelation 1:16, St. John states that he saw “seven stars” in Jesus’ right hand. Then Jesus explains in 1:20 that “the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.” Then Jesus tells John seven times in Revelation 2 and 3 to write certain things “to the angel”... Read more
+ St. Polycarp and St. Clement of Rome On Early Church Ecclesiology Gavin Ortlund is a Reformed Baptist author, speaker, pastor, and apologist for the Christian faith. He has a Ph.D. from Fuller Theological Seminary in historical theology, and an M.Div from Covenant Theological Seminary. Gavin is the author of seven books as well as numerous academic and popular articles. For a list of publications, see his CV. He runs the YouTube channel Truth Unites, which seeks to provide an “irenic” voice on theology,... Read more
The Ambivalence and Inconsistencies of Protestant Thought on the Earliest “Monarchical” Bishops Protestants, especially Presbyterians and Baptists, who hold to a “low church” ecclesiology without bishops, habitually argue that monepiscopacy, or the notion and state of affairs of single “monarchical” bishops holding the leadership of local churches, was a phenomenon that only started to significantly — and to them, unfortunately — occur in the mid-second century or even later than that. This is demonstrably untrue, based on the best historical... Read more
Recently I’ve written about St. Jerome’s view on the matter, as well as St. Ignatius of Antioch’s (d. c. 110 or 117). Ignatius is described as the bishop of Antioch by Eusebius (see below). I’ve also written about how St. Clement of Rome (c. 35-99) seems to be acting as a pope in his letter to the Corinthians. He is identified as the bishop of Rome by both St. Irenaeus and Eusebius (see below). Now I’ll take a look at... Read more
This was originally a “nutshell” (ha ha!) argument, made on my Facebook page, then it became extended as longtime reader Felix Lopez (his words in blue below) interacted with it (I love when that happens!), and I further honed my argument. I’ll tweak it a bit more presently. ***** Pope St. Peter wrote that “The Lord . . . is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet 3:9, RSV). Paul... Read more
Including the Biblical Case for Prophets as Inspired and Infallible Authorities Besides Holy Scripture Gavin Ortlund is a Reformed Baptist author, speaker, pastor, and apologist for the Christian faith. He has a Ph.D. from Fuller Theological Seminary in historical theology, and an M.Div from Covenant Theological Seminary. Gavin is the author of seven books as well as numerous academic and popular articles. For a list of publications, see his CV. He runs the YouTube channel Truth Unites, which seeks to provide an “irenic” voice... Read more
Gavin Ortlund is a Reformed Baptist author, speaker, pastor, and apologist for the Christian faith. He has a Ph.D. from Fuller Theological Seminary in historical theology, and an M.Div from Covenant Theological Seminary. Gavin is the author of seven books as well as numerous academic and popular articles. For a list of publications, see his CV. He runs the YouTube channel Truth Unites, which seeks to provide an “irenic” voice on theology, apologetics, and the Christian life. See also his website, Truth Unites and his blog. His... Read more
This is an article related to my dialogue: St. Jerome, Papacy, & Succession (Vs. Gavin Ortlund) [1-20-24]. In that piece, and in an accompanying audio talk and its transcript, I explored in depth what St. Jerome had to say about ecclesiology (Church government, hierarchy, episcopacy, and apostolic succession). He lived from c. 343-420. I will be exploring what one of the earliest Church fathers, St. Ignatius of Antioch, wrote about how the Church was being governed, and in particular, how... Read more
Lucas Banzoli is a very active Brazilian anti-Catholic polemicist, who holds to basically a Seventh-day Adventist theology, whereby there is no such thing as a soul that consciously exists outside of a body, and no hell (soul sleep and annihilationism). He has a Master’s degree in theology, a degree and postgraduate work in history, a license in letters, and is a history teacher, author of 27 self-published books, as well as blogmaster for six blogs. He has many videos on YouTube. This is my 67th refutation of Banzoli’s... Read more
Gavin Ortlund is a Reformed Baptist author, speaker, pastor, and apologist for the Christian faith. He has a Ph.D. from Fuller Theological Seminary in historical theology, and an M.Div from Covenant Theological Seminary. Gavin is the author of seven books as well as numerous academic and popular articles. For a list of publications, see his CV. He runs the YouTube channel Truth Unites, which seeks to provide an “irenic” voice on theology, apologetics, and the Christian life. See also his website, Truth... Read more
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