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.

Romans 5:17-18: The Gift of Righteousness

I have been having a great discussion about the definition of “grace” in the Bible. In the midst of it I ran across Romans 5:17-18 and was really touched by it. I am pretty sure I have read those two … Continue reading

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Misunderstanding Paul

I wrote a post on mortal and venial sins two days ago. I got a great comment from “Jody,” which included a suggestion that “this may explain why some people accused Paul of preaching an ‘anything goes’ type message.” I … Continue reading

Posted in Evangelicals, Modern Doctrines | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Mortal and Venial Sins?

Roman Catholicism distinguishes between mortal sins, which lead to hell, and venial sins, which lead to “temporal punishment.” Is this distinction scriptural? Note: This post is the result of thinking about a recent discussion with “Jon.” He mentioned once that … Continue reading

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Two Acts of Unbelief You Do Not Want to Commit

Paul jumped on the Corinthians for acting like humans (1 Cor. 3:3). Why? I have heard people say that Jesus was the second Adam. Jesus was not the second Adam. He was the last Adam. According to 1 Corinthians 15, … Continue reading

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The Second Most Important Question Ever

I just began reading Christus Victor last night. In it, author Gustaf Aulén writes, “There are not different theories of the atonement in the Fathers, but only varient expressions of one and the same idea.” I want to argue that … Continue reading

Posted in Evangelicals, Modern Doctrines, Protestants, Roman Catholic & Orthodox | Tagged , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

“Shepherds” Came to Jesus?

I was doing other work, but I had to stop when I saw this article about the “shepherds” who came to see Jesus. However, in a biblical times like today, preteen girls are usually shepherds. Sometimes they shepherd with an … Continue reading

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The Top 10 Posts of 2014

Originally posted on Not For Itching Ears:
? That’s right, my friends.  The following post contains our own version of the Top 10 list:  The top 10 posts written at Not For Itching Ears this year.  We want to thank all of you…

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Questioning Our Protestant Tradition of Sola Scriptura

Originally posted on Not For Itching Ears:
Nothing but Scripture? It is becoming apparent to me that no church, no theologian, no follower of Christ actually lives out their faith based on the idea of Sola Scriptura. Sola scriptura as a principal states…

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Creationism vs. Evolution: The Spiritual Argument

We’re new creations, not old ones. Who cares how Adam came along? We’re leaving him behind. I want to begin a new thought experiment. Does the New Creation evolve? As I write, I am hooked to four bags of IV … Continue reading

Posted in Evolution, Holiness, Modern Doctrines | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

The Promise

I have been remiss in not giving you a better glimpse of the power of Megan Rebekah Cupit’s retelling of the Nativity story. I’ll let her writing speak for itself. The following is the first two pages of The Promise: … Continue reading

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