Where We Stand
Everyone writing about Christian teaching is writing from somewhere. Pretending otherwise does the reader no favors. So here is the position these essays are written from, stated plainly enough that you can read the rest with it in view.
The common ground
These essays hold the historic Christian faith as summarized in the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds:
- God — one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- Scripture — the Bible is the inspired and authoritative word of God.
- Jesus — fully God and fully human, crucified, risen, and reigning.
- Salvation — by grace, through faith, in Christ alone.
- The Church — one holy catholic and apostolic church of all believers.
Where these essays are written from
These essays are written from within Protestant Christianity, and they do not narrow further than that on purpose.
More than one person writes here, and contributors differ among themselves — on baptism, church government, the shape of the end times, predestination and human freedom, the continuation of spiritual gifts, the days of Genesis 1. Those differences are real, and this site does not settle them by house rule. What contributors hold in common is the Protestant consensus:
- Scripture is the final authority in matters of faith and practice — above tradition, councils, and any teaching office.
- Justification is by grace, through faith, on account of Christ — not achieved, supplemented, or maintained by our works.
- Every believer has direct access to God through Christ, without a human mediator standing in between.
Beyond that, each essay reflects the person who wrote it. The byline is not a disclaimer, but it is a reminder: you are reading an author, not a denomination.
Where Christians genuinely disagree
A good deal of what Christians argue about falls inside the bounds of orthodoxy rather than outside it. On those questions an essay here will state a view and argue for it, but will represent the alternatives as their own best advocates would recognize them. Where an essay takes a contested position, it says so and points to the serious cases against it.
An essay that leaves you unable to state the opposing view fairly has failed, whatever else it accomplished.
Scripture citations
Scripture is quoted from the English Standard Version.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Sources
Where these essays lean on the creeds, confessions, church fathers, or historical scholarship, they cite them. Most of that material is public domain and linked directly, so you can check the argument rather than take it on trust.