On the Journey

If the Reformation doctrine of justification by "faith alone" was, as Protestant scholar Alistair McGrath describes it, a "theological novum," then what did Christians believe about salvation and justification prior to Martin Luther's revolution of 1517? Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue their discussion of what led them to see that sola fide was an inadequate and incomplete description of how G...

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue to look at the Reformation doctrine of sola fide, or justification by "faith alone." While Ken was still a Baptist pastor, he began to find that the more he searched the Scriptures, the more it seemed that sola fide wasn't the best way to articulate how God saves His people. In this episode, Ken shares with Matt the seven key realizations he had along the way th...

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue to look at evidence for justification being by the legal imputation of Christ's righteousness in the Bible, this time diving into the New Testament. The theology of the Reformation, crafted and put forth by leaders like Martin Luther and John Calvin, argues that when God saves someone, He credits His righteousness to their account. Catholics, Orthodox, Wesleyans...

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue to discuss the Reformation pillar of sola fide, or justification by "faith alone," by focusing specifically on the idea of the doctrine of imputation. As a Baptist pastor, Ken held to the Reformed belief that righteousness was "imputed," meaning that God credits His own righteousness to our account, and the Christian then wears that righteousness like a cloak. H...

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue their discussion of the question of justification by “faith alone,” as articulated by Reformed theology, which Ken once held to as a Baptist pastor....

As a Baptist pastor, Ken Hensley held to Martin Luther’s doctrine of sola fide, or justification by “faith alone.” But what was he supposed to do with the many passages...

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue their conversation about the Reformation doctrine of sola fide, or justification by “faith alone.” Much of the conversation about this topic between Catholics and...

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue to discuss the Reformation doctrine of “sola fide,” or justification by faith alone, by digging more into St. Paul, specifically what he has to...

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue their discussion of the Reformation doctrine of “sola fide,” or justification by “faith alone.” Repeatedly, especially in his letters to the Romans and Galatians,...

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue to discuss how they wrestled with the doctrine of sola fide, or “faith alone,” on their way into the Catholic Church. Sure, Noah, Abraham...

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue their discussion of the doctrine of sola fide, or justification by “faith alone,” by looking at the pattern of faith, followed by obedience, followed...

What is the doctrine of “faith alone,” and how did Martin Luther come to articulate it? What was he experiencing in his own life as a Catholic monk that led...

Jesus commissioned his followers to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But why? If Baptism is merely a symbolic act that has no saving effect,...

In their Evangelical backgrounds, Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley didn’t believe that Baptism had any sacramental effect; for them, it was just a way to testify to their fellow Christians...

Over the past several episodes, Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley have taken a look at several aspects of the core Reformation doctrine of sola Scriptura. Is it Scriptural? Is it...

One of the core beliefs of Martin Luther at the start of the Reformation was that each individual Christian should have a right of private judgment when it comes to...

A question that bothers even many adherents of sola Scriptura is this: if the Bible alone is to be the sole rule of faith, and any individual Christian can understand...

The doctrine of sola Scriptura was one of the battle cries of the Continental Reformation. But is there evidence that it was practiced and taught in the first centuries of Christianity? Matt...

If “sola Scriptura” is meant to be the guiding principle of Christianity, then why did it take nearly 400 years for the canon of the New Testament to be formally...

What passages from the Bible give the strongest support for the doctrine of sola Scriptura? As Protestants, Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley would have pointed directly to the example of...

Does the Bible teach sola Scriptura over and against Christian tradition? Or is sola Scriptura itself one of the “traditions of men” that Scripture warns against? As Evangelical Christians, Matt...

The controversies surrounding the doctrine of sola Scriptura highlight a fundamental difference in the way that Protestants and Catholics think about a basic question: what is the nature of Christian authority? In...

The New Testament is clear: the early Church was governed by the apostles who were hand-selected by Jesus himself. But what happened after the apostles died? For both Matt Swaim...

Is sola Scriptura practiced in the New Testament? When Ken Hensley and Matt Swaim were sola Scriptura Christians, both of them essentially took the doctrine for granted. To question whether “sola Scriptura” was valid...

When it comes to discussions between Protestants and Catholics, a lot of them tend to stall because not only are there disagreements on certain issues; there are also disagreements when...