Is America a Christian nation? Where do Baptists come from and what significance do they hold in the history of our nation? What does it mean to be a Baptist today in our contemporary world?

In this episode, host Brandon Briscoe sits down with Jim Alter, pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Sidney, Ohio to ask these questions and to explore how Baptists influenced our forefathers to frame our constitution with religious liberty in mind.

Pastor Alter is co-founder and editor of the Ancient Baptist Press, and he's also the founder, curator and lecturer for a traveling exhibition called Purified Seven Times, which is devoted to educating people about the history of our English Bible. Jim is also coauthor of the book Why Baptist? The Significance of Baptist Principles in an Ecumenical Age.

Purchase Why Baptist - https://a.co/d/fiDkh5t

Visit http://www.ancientbaptist.com/ to learn more about Jim Alter's ministry.

Visit https://www.lfbi.org/learnmore to sign up for Baptist History and other courses at Living Faith Bible Institute.

The history of Baptists in the United States is a long and convoluted story of victory and failure, unity and division, momentum, and decline. But, if we pay attention to the stories of those individual leaders within the movement, we discover a very important lesson – namely, that when men are full of faith in God and his word, and fearlessly preach it, they can be mightily used for the kingdom of God. Conversely, men who trade truth for pragmatism or divide the body of Christ for their own righteous causes, will often do more to harm the kingdom then

Today we have invited O. S. Hawkins, former pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas and the Chancellor and Senior Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Evangelism at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to discuss two historic Baptist pastors that serve to help us heed these lessons.

Hawkins is the author of over 50 books, including the book we will be considering today, In the Name of God: The Colliding Lives, Legends and Legacies of J. Frank Norris and George W. Truett.

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We continue our series on church history with pastor Greg Axe, author of “Church History”. Last time, we talked about the actions of King Henry VIII severing the ties between the Church of Rome with the (Anglican) Church of England. Today we will discuss Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, two rulers with different approaches to leadership and with very different religious views. 

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Throughout the length of our podcast we have been doing episodes devoted to understanding history, particularly the history of the church, from a biblical perspective. Last time we came together on this topic was Episode 156, where we discussed the Counter Reformation and the Catholic Church’s struggle to reclaim its authority during the 16th and 17th Century. This week we are going to build on our ongoing narrative by chatting about Henry the VIII, King of England (1509-1547). Henry represents for us a serious turning of power in England away from the authority of the church which of course led to the establishment of the Church of England. And of course, our guide on this journey through church history. For this conversation we welcome back author of Church History: A Biblical Perspective, Greg Axe.

Visit https://www.lfbi.org/learnmore

Over the last couple of years on the Postscript, we have been walking through the history of the Church. The last few episodes on this subject, we have been discussing the Reformation. We have discussed Jan Hus, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther and the Anabaptists.

Today we are sitting down with pastor and Church History instructor Greg Axe to discuss the Counter Reformation. We set the context with the setting, particularly the age of European exploration and expansion couple with two key Catholic players, Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits (1534 AD) and Pope Paul III, overseer of the Council of Trent (1545 AD).

In this conversation, we discuss the ways in which the Roman Catholic Church sought to entrench its reformers against the Church as official enemies of the state by the authority of the Council of Trent, giving the Catholic Church the right to anathematize people in over 100 instances - which council stands today as one of the most foundational doctrinal documents of the Catholic Church.

Visit https://www.lfbi.org/learnmore

Purchase Church History: A Biblical Perspective at https://www.lfbi.org/books

We continue our church history series with Pastor Greg Axe of Crest Bible Church, who is also the professor of Church History at Living Faith Bible Institute. Greg is the author of Church History: A Biblical Perspective, which can be found on Amazon.

Today we discuss the Anabaptists of the 16th century, their origins, doctrines, culture, and their legacy of biblical discipleship.

Visit https://www.lfbi.org/learnmore

We continue our church history series with Pastor Greg Axe of Crest Bible Church. We discuss the man often recognized as the key player of the Reformation, Martin Luther. We begin with his upbringing and salvation experience, and then discuss his unrest with the Roman Catholic Church, the 95 theses, as well as the ensuing debate and persecution. We also discuss Luther's influence after his escape to Germany and the translation of the Bible into German.

In this episode, we continue our conversation on church history with pastor Greg Axe of Crest Bible Church. This time, we look at the conditions that paved the way for the Reformation, including further corruption in the Church of Rome, as well as the positive factors. We also look at the lives of John Wycliffe and John Huss, as well as their contributions to getting the Bible into the hands of the common man.

We continue our conversation with LFBI professor and author of Church History, Greg Axe. This time we cover the Spanish Inquisition — the false trial and slaughter of tens of thousands of people for the purpose of political control. We look at key players like King Ferdinand, Isabella, and the “heretics” tortured and murdered under the pretense of Christ’s kingdom.

Buy Greg Axe’s book “Church History” at https://www.lfbi.org/books

We continue our conversation on Church History with LFBI professor and pastor of Crest Bible Church Greg Axe. This time we cover the Inquisition of the Medieval Roman Catholic Church around the 13th and 14th centuries. We address what “heretic” means and how that concept was re-interpreted by the Catholic authorities of the time. We learn their strategy for “purifying” Europe of those who fell outside the bounds of their religious dogma.

In this episode we continue our discussion on the crusades with pastor Greg Axe the LFBI professor of Church History. We see how Augustine's City of God laid the doctrinal foundation of Roman Catholic rules for "holy war," along with modern-day ramifications of this ensuing doctrine. We briefly look into the lives of men & boys of the crusades like Bernard of Clairvaux, Saladin, Richard the Lionheart, Stephen of Cloyes & Nicholas of Cologne. Lastly, we consider the horrific Children's Crusade in which 30,000 children marched to their death or enslavement just before another 20,000 did the same.

In this episode we continue our discussion on Church History with pastor Greg Axe. We begin with the medieval cultural conditions that set the stage for the crusades. We talk about a few key characters: Peter the Hermit, Godfrey of Buillon & Walter the Penniless. We conclude by addressing why the crusades never actually ended.

In Episode 4 we interview Pastor Greg Axe of Crest Bible Church and professor of Church History and Eschatology at Living Faith Bible Institute. In this episode Greg and Brandon discuss Constantine’s unification of the Roman Empire under his newly-founded state religion and how what first appeared to be relief to persecuted Christians gave way to further conundrums.

In Episode 2 we interview Pastor Greg Axe of Crest Bible Church and professor of Church History and Eschatology at Living Faith Bible Institute. In this episode Greg and Brandon discuss early church characteristics, persecution from Rome, and the beginning of scripture canonization.