Jeff Downs, Author at Alpha and Omega Ministries

Revelation About God (from Nature, Man, and God)

Jeff Downs, September 17, 2009, Misc

I have to privilege of sitting under Dr. Morton Smith this semester for Prolegomena & Theology. Instead of writing one long paper for the course, students are required to turn in a 3-5 page paper every other week, reading it before the class and fielding questions. The aim of the paper is to summarize the view(s) of a theologian of

Wheat and Tares

Jeff Downs, September 11, 2009, Pastoral Theology

A couple of weeks ago I had the special privilege of preaching at Shepherd’s Fellowship of Greensboro, NC. My text was Matt. 13:24-30, the parable of the Wheat and Tares. There are two different interpretations of this parable. I am more in line with modern interpreters. If you are interested, click here to listen. Brothers and sisters, If you are

Protecting the Flock: A Pastoral Perspective, Pt. 1

Jeff Downs, September 4, 2009, Pastoral Theology

Have you ever thought about writing a book? Have you ever read a book, and thought to yourself, “this is the book I wanted to write”? Well, I am almost certain many readers of this blog have had that experience. Perhaps at that point, your dream was dashed to pieces. I trust that is not the case, and even if

An Apologetics Reader

Jeff Downs, September 4, 2009, Resources

I have been waiting for this volume for sometime, and it is now available. Bill Edgar and Scott Oliphint (both professor at WTS) have put together “an unprecedented anthology of apologetics texts with selections from the first century AD through the Middle Ages. Includes introductory material, timelines, maps, footnotes, and discussion questions.” “This first of two proposed volumes features primary

Truth and Error in the Church

Jeff Downs, August 22, 2009, Resources

The guys over at Reformed Forum recently interviewed Martin Downes (no biological relationship to me) with reference to his new book Risking the Truth: Handling Error in the Church (Christian Focus, 2009). In this issue of the program “The nature of error and heresy is delineated and the best approach to handling it pastorally in the life of the local

Why We Love the Church

Jeff Downs, July 30, 2009, Resources

In light of the recent discussions, old and new readers of this blog maybe interested in this new book by Kevin D. Young and Ted Kluck titled Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion (Moody, 2009). A study guide for the book is located online here (free). Check out their quick YouTube introduction. I know

NT Textual Criticism for the 21st Century

Jeff Downs, May 25, 2009, Resources

The guys over at Christ the Center recently interviewed Dr. Dan Wallace on the issue of Textual Criticism. Dr. Wallace also discussed some recent NT manuscript finds (very interesting). Click here to listen. See also Dr. Wallace’s article “Challenges in New Testament Textual Criticism for the Twenty-first Century” in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Vol. 52, No. 1

The Atonement of Christ Debate

Jeff Downs, April 9, 2009, Resources

On June 25, 2002 Dr. Joseph Pipa, Jr. and Mr. Dave Hunt debated the topic of the atonement. It is been quite sometime since this debate has been available online. As of today, this debate can be downloaded from the Greenville Seminary audio site: Part 1 and Part 2. Enjoy!

An Absolute Sort of Certainty

Jeff Downs, March 16, 2009, General Apologetics

In 2004 (see 8/19 & 8/24) I put together a conference that included Dr. White and Dr. Stephen J. Nichols as the speakers. The audio for this conference has never been online. Well, it is now, at least some of it. I have posted to Sermon Audio the two lectures by Stephen Nichols dealing with Jonathan Edwards and his apologetic.

Calvin 500, Live

Jeff Downs, February 24, 2009, Resources

On Dec. 4, 2008 I announced the 2009 Spring Theology Conference that Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary will be holding in Greenville, SC. The theme for the conference is “John Calvin 500 Years in Retrospect: A 21st Century Assessment.” This year will be a bit different as the folks from Sermon Audio will be on-hand to broadcast live. But, not the

Evangelism and Apologetics

Jeff Downs, February 2, 2009, General Apologetics

Those interested in this subject (and what Christian isn’t), may want to take a look at two of the leading articles in the recent edition of the New Horizons magazine: Are You Ready to Give a Reason?, by Gary W. Davenport. The Church’s Evangelistic Mission, by L. Anthony Curto. The article by Dr. Curto is a (very) condensed version of

White/Ehrman Debate Is Available

Jeff Downs, January 26, 2009, Textual Issues

No doubt most of you are already aware that the MP3s and Audio CD of the debate are available. But since no one has mentioned it on the blog yet, I figured I would. Go here to listen or here to view.

Right Facts, Wrong Conclusions

Jeff Downs, January 21, 2009, Textual Issues

Turn on your television around the two major Christian holidays and a perennial stream of really smart people who don’t believe in the historic Christian faith will wax eloquent on the real meaning of the Bible. The latest weapon in their arsenal is the work of renown scholar of textual criticism and best selling author of Misquoting Jesus, Dr. Bart

Acts 18:24-28

Jeff Downs, January 21, 2009, Pastoral Theology

The audio from James’ sermon preached at Grace Baptist Church titled “Our Need to Answer the Critics,” is online here.

Hebrews 12:1-2

Jeff Downs, January 21, 2009, Personal

This past Wednesday I had the opportunity to preach the first time in a Homiletics class. My sermon was based on Hebrews 12:1-2. If you are interested in hearing it, and the critique from the professor and students that followed click here. Students who attend Greenville Seminary are (for the most part) to preach extemporaneously. In the past, I have

Van Til’s Trinitarian Theology

Jeff Downs, December 30, 2008, Resources

It can be a dangerous thing to recommend audio that one has not listened to (yet), but with this, I have no doubt it is safe. I have been waiting for this interview for quite sometime and the guys at Christ the Center have finally put it together. On December 26th Nick Batzig, Jeff Waddington, Jim Cassidy, Camden Bucey interviewed

Christ the Center

Jeff Downs, December 24, 2008, Resources

Not sure how I missed this one since I try to stay on top of this Podcast, but James was recently (Nov. 21, 2008) interviewed on Christ the Center discussing Apologetics and Islam. Click here to listen. While the panel of Christ the Center are Presbyterians (PCA and OPC), I think the Baptist (and others) who read this blog would

Confessing the Faith and Guarding the Flock

Jeff Downs, December 10, 2008, Pastoral Theology

Below is a paper I recently finished for an Ancient Church History course at GPTS. A PDF file (perhaps a bit more readable) can be downloaded by clicking here. ==== The Apostles Creed is one of old the earliest1 confessions of the Christian Church. The doctrines avowed in this creed were clarified and expanded upon during the early centuries of

Calvin Conference

Jeff Downs, December 4, 2008, Resources

As a student at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, I am pleased to announce the 2009 Spring Theology Conference, sponsored by GPTS. The theme for the conference is John Calvin 500 Years in Retrospect: A 21st Century Assessement. “Loved, hated, misrepresented, misunderstood, blindly-followed by some, rejected out-of-hand by others, but nevertheless relevant even in the modern world, John Calvin is in

Hitchens/Wilson Debate

Jeff Downs, November 8, 2008, General Apologetics

Christopher Hitchens and Doug Wilson debated on the campus of Westminster Theological Seminary (East) on October 30, 2008. The debate was moderated by Dr. Scott Oliphint, professor of apologetics at WTS. The debate can be heard by clicking here. The debate is the 12th item on the list.

Cornelius Van Til, Herman Bavinck, and Francis Schaeffer

Jeff Downs, October 2, 2008, General Apologetics

Some might wonder how the above names fit together. Simple enough. These men and some of their views are addressed in the new editions of the Ordained Servant and New Horizons magazines (productions of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church). Click here to check out either one. Two articles in particular that I would point out are: The Witness of Scripture to

Santa Fe Conference Audio

Jeff Downs, September 22, 2008, General Apologetics

The audio for the Santa Fe Conference on Biblical Discernment, recently mentioned here, is now available online for you to download. Click here to listen to the following: “Reliability of the New Testament Documents”, Dr. James White “Examining Mormon Proof Texts”, Bill McKeever “FAQ About the Faith Movement”, Rob Bowman “Reasoning From the Scriptures with the Jehovah’s Witnesses”, Ron Rhodes

Mormonism and Heaven

Jeff Downs, September 4, 2008, Mormonism

I finally get to post something. Well, nothing of real substance (i.e. the particular post that is). You will forgive me as I am currently in seminary, and since I started I’ve had no real breaks (summer included). And so at this point, this is the best I can do. For those interested in Mormonism, you may want to listen

Assessing Contemporary Theology

Jeff Downs, June 26, 2008, Post-Evangelicalism

I believe the readers of this blog would enjoy (very much) listening to a recent interview with Dr. Lane Tipton. The discussion took place in light of the new book Resurrection and Eschatology: Theology in Service of the Church: Essays in Honor of Richard B. Gaffin Jr. (P&R, 2008), but the discussion is more general in nature. The interview took

A Trinitarian and a Unitarian Debate

Jeff Downs, June 9, 2008, Theology Matters

On June 1 of this year Mr. Brant Bosserman (Trinitarian) and Mr. Sean Finnegan (Unitarian) debated the topic of the Trinity. I had a chance to listen to the debate and I enjoyed it very much. I trust you will as well. Click here to listen. I’ve heard Brant on two other occasions and appreciated very much what he had

Snip Snip, Snip Snip

Jeff Downs, May 16, 2008, Mormonism

Imagine being in a restaurant enjoying a great meal with your family. Your ears begin to walk over to the table behind you, as you hear the words “cult,” “church history”, “old light,” “new light,” etc. The problem is the details of the conversation are muffled. Since you know enough about the cults of Christianity, your mind is bouncing back

Debate Over Presuppositional Apologetics

Jeff Downs, May 13, 2008, General Apologetics

Yesterday afternoon I had the privilege of participating in my first debate. Was this something I wanted to do? Not really, but I was coerced 🙂 by the president of GPTS to do so. The debate was for the spring 2008 logic course. And since I was auditing the class, I wasn’t going to debate a topic I had to

The Latest and “Greatest” Ideas

Jeff Downs, May 6, 2008, Misc

Some of the readers of this blog are familiar with my old site rctr.org (well, it is still there, but nothing has really been done with it for quite some time) and the Resource Report or Resource Blog. This site was designed to keep the average Joe, who did not have access to libraries nor the time to research, updated

Approaching Christian Counterfeits

Jeff Downs, May 1, 2008, Reformed Apologetics

This past Sunday I began teaching a course titled “A Biblical Approach to Christian Counterfeits.” The audio (MP3s) for this course will be parked online here (the first class is there now). Keep in mind this is a Sunday School course, not “seminary” level. The class on Acts 17 was done two weeks prior to the beginning of the Counterfeits

A Covenantal Apologetic

Jeff Downs, April 24, 2008, Christian Worldview

The following paper was handed in today to Dr. Anthony Curto for an introductory class in apologetics. It is a paper that appeared online in the past, that I reworked (and will continue to do so). You will notice that there is a large section misssing – application. While I was originally going to include critique of various cultic views

Greg Stafford on God’s Ignorance: God As Man’s Prophet

Jeff Downs, April 4, 2008, Jehovah's Witnesses

Regarding the creation of mankind, the Westminster Shorter Catechism (Q10) asks “How did God create man?” And it answers the question by stating “God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures” (emphasis mine). And because we are made in the image of God, we are to image Him

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