Theology
Doctrine Explorer
Most objections to Christian doctrine target something Christians do not actually claim. Each entry therefore states the doctrine precisely, traces how the church arrived at that wording, separates the misunderstanding from the position, and names the hardest genuine question it faces.
Theology Proper
The Trinity
One God exists eternally as three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Christology
The Incarnation
The eternal Son took on a complete human nature without ceasing to be God.
Salvation
The Atonement
Through the death and resurrection of Christ, God deals decisively with sin and reconciles people to himself.
Theology Proper
Divine Attributes: Aseity and Simplicity
God exists from himself alone and is not composed of parts.
Theology Proper
Divine Omniscience and Foreknowledge
God knows all truths, including future free actions, exhaustively.
Theology Proper
Creation and Providence
God freely brought the universe into being from nothing and continually sustains and governs it.
Theology Proper
Revelation and Scripture
God makes himself known through general and special revelation, supremely through inspired Scripture.
Theology Proper
The Image of God and Human Nature
Humanity is made in God's image, the theological ground of human dignity, rationality, relationality, and vocation.
Salvation
Sin and the Fall
Humanity's original rebellion against God in Adam corrupted human nature, bringing guilt, death, and disorder into the world.
Salvation
Justification by Faith
God declares sinners righteous through faith in Christ rather than on the basis of their own works.
Salvation
Sanctification
The ongoing work of God's Spirit conforming believers to the holiness and character of Christ.
Salvation
Grace and Free Will
The relationship between God's initiating, empowering grace and the freedom or bondage of the human will in coming to faith.
Theology Proper
Divine Impassibility
God is not overwhelmed or altered by external causes, though Scripture freely speaks of his love, wrath, and grief.
Theology Proper
Creation Ex Nihilo
God brought the universe into being out of nothing, not out of pre-existing matter or his own being.
Theology Proper
The Image of God
Human beings are uniquely made in God's image, grounding human dignity, moral responsibility, and vocation.
Salvation
The Church
The church is the community of believers united to Christ and to one another, called to worship, discipleship, and mission.
Salvation
Sacraments and Ordinances
Baptism and the Lord's Supper are Christ-instituted rites through which grace is signified, and on some views conveyed, to believers.
Last Things
Resurrection of the Body
At the end of the age, God will raise the dead bodily to either everlasting life or judgment.
Last Things
Final Judgment
At the end of history, Christ will judge all people, vindicating the righteous and condemning the unrepentant.
Salvation
The Order of Salvation (Ordo Salutis)
The theological sequence describing how the various aspects of salvation — calling, regeneration, faith, justification, sanctification, glorification — relate to one another.
Last Things
Hell and Final Punishment
Scripture warns of a final, just punishment for the unrepentant, though Christians differ on its nature and duration.
Christology
Kenosis and the Incarnation
In becoming human, the eternal Son 'emptied himself,' taking the form of a servant without ceasing to be fully God.
Salvation
Regeneration (The New Birth)
Regeneration is the Holy Spirit's act of spiritually renewing a sinner's nature, granting new spiritual life and the capacity to believe and love God.
Christology
The Communication of Attributes (Communicatio Idiomatum)
Because Christ's divine and human natures are united in one person, the properties of each nature may rightly be predicated of the one person, Jesus Christ.