Persecution and Protection of Iranian Christians
Introduction Currently, Christians in Iran number between 200,000 to 300,000 to over 1 million, mostly from Muslim backgrounds. With the present war between Iran, a closer look at the history of Christianity in Iran may be helpful in placing these events in context. Though it has been sporadic, throughout Iran’s history with Christianity, there has […]
Walking by Faith
13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 14 Do everything in love. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 At least a couple of aspects in my walk of faith stand out for me from this text. First, and maybe foremost, Paul was not writing about general matters of a person’s character […]
Faculty Dialogues: Christology
In this episode of the Faculty Dialogues, I have a candid conversation with Dr. David Rathel on Christology. We discuss key Christological formulations in the Christian tradition, modern doctrinal issues in scholarship, and the importance of a proper understanding of the nature of Christ for the church. Watch the full dialogue below.
Armenian Christianity in Iran
Introduction Armenians adopted Christianity in 301 AD, the first nation to make Christianity a state religion (Bournoutian 1980: 49). Sometimes confused with Orthodoxy, the Armenian Apostolic Church forms a separate and independent branch within Eastern Christianity. While Armenia possesses its own celebrated history distinct from other nations or peoples, Armenian connections to Iran date to […]
Teaching the Gospels, Part Two: Look Through the Eyes of the Eyewitnesses
The Gospels, of course, focus on Jesus, as we discussed in the first part of this series. But the Gospels focus on Jesus on the basis of eyewitness accounts, as Luke says when he explains how he wrote his book: “Many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among […]