Author Archives: Paul Pavao

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About Paul Pavao

I am married, the father of six, and currently the grandfather of five. I teach, and I am always trying to learn to disciple others better than I have before. I believe God has gifted me to restore proper theological foundations to the Christian faith. In order to ensure that I do not become a heretic, I read the early church fathers from the second and third centuries. They were around when all the churches founded by the apostles were in unity. My philosophy for Bible reading is to understand each verse for exactly what it says in its local context. Only after accepting the verse for what it says do I compare it with other verses to develop my theology. If other verses seem to contradict a verse I just read, I will wait to say anything about those verses until I have an explanation that allows me to accept all the verses for what they say. This takes time, sometimes years, but eventually I have always been able to find something that does not require explaining verses away. The early church fathers have helped a lot with this. I argue and discuss these foundational doctrines with others to make sure my teaching really lines up with Scripture. I am encouraged by the fact that the several missionaries and pastors that I know well and admire as holy men love the things I teach. I hope you will be encouraged too. I am indeed tearing up old foundations created by tradition in order to re-establish the foundations found in Scripture and lived on by the churches during their 300 years of unity.

The Goodness and Severity of God

Behold! Behold the goodness and the severity of God. On those who fell: severity. On you: goodness. If … If you continue in his goodness. Otherwise, you’ll be cut off as a branch from the tree of God like the … Continue reading

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An Ancient Theologian explains Tradition

Originally posted on Dead Heroes Don't Save:
Irenaeus, a 2nd century theologian, defended Christianity from the Gnostic philosophies that were popular at the time. His 5 volume work, Against Heresies, dedicates the first two volumes to describing the Gnostic…

Posted in Early Christianity | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Atonement: Part IV (I think)

I realized today that Isaiah tells a similar story to the one I told in my Tackling the Atonement post. I’m using the NASB today. This is Isaiah 59:16-21: And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished … Continue reading

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Atonement: Part Three (I Think)

It is very hard to just step back and look at a doctrine so important to the faith as the atonement. I am always looking for ways to get my readers to hear what I am saying, to somehow not … Continue reading

Posted in Evangelicals, Modern Doctrines | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Fulness of the Law (video)

I’d guess that almost no one knows how the early Christians dealt with Matthew 5:17: “I did not come to abolish the Law, but to bring it to fullness.” The evangelical interpretation of that passage relies on a faulty translation … Continue reading

Posted in Modern Doctrines | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

The Atonement: Q&A

In my previous post, “Tackling the Atonement,” I told a story about Jesus becoming man, entering into and sharing our slavery and bondage, then undoing all the things Adam put on us as humans because he obeyed rather than disobeying … Continue reading

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Tackling the Atonement

I tried twice to day to write this post, and I deleted what I had both times. Then I found an email from a couple days ago that was sent to me by a regular reader and commenter, and I … Continue reading

Posted in Modern Doctrines | Tagged , | 3 Comments

James 1:5-7 Revisited: Nothing Doubting

We talked once about James 1:5-7 and how frightening it is that our prayers might not be answered because of a little doubt. What we determined was that the issue was not a little doubt that our prayers might be … Continue reading

Posted in Miscellaneous, prayer | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Staying on the Subject: Penal Substitution

If you read this blog much, you know how much I dislike the doctrine of penal substitution. Not only does it justify a Christian living as an enemy of Jesus, but it makes a monster out of God. Proving penal … Continue reading

Posted in Evangelicals, Modern Doctrines | Tagged , | 23 Comments

Isaiah 22:11-14

Don’t make the mistake of choosing your own way to worship God. Isaiah 22:11-14: You also made a reservoir for yourself between the two walls of the inner old pool. But you did not look to Him who made it … Continue reading

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