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.

Athanasian Creed: A Review

Who am I to “review” the Athanasian Creed? I do not review it on my own authority. I review it on the authority of the teachings of Jesus, the apostles, and of the Christians, churches, and councils that preceded the … Continue reading

Posted in Early Christianity, Modern Doctrines | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Monkery Business: Martin Luther Faith vs. Works Debate

Anyone want to help me think this through? I have friends so hostile to Martin Luther it might be impossible. I have read a lot about Martin Luther, but I’ve only read a little by Martin Luther. Almost everything I’ve … Continue reading

Posted in Miscellaneous, Modern Doctrines, Protestants | Tagged , , , | 21 Comments

Eternally Begotten of the Father

Maybe over the last three days, I’ve complicated things too much. Maybe the simplest way to get modern Trinitarians to understand the early churches’ definition of the Trinity is get them to acknowledge that the Son was begotten, not just … Continue reading

Posted in Modern Doctrines | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Rinse and Repeat

Originally posted on Growing Forward:
1. False god promises greater joy through disobedience to God. 2. Person believes the lie. 3. Real life happens. 4. False god’s lie is exposed for what it really is. Rinse and repeat.

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Jesus: God of the Old Testament?

Is Jesus Yahweh, God of the nation of Israel? I cannot definitively say that it is the view of the early churches that it was the Son of God, the divine Logos [Word], that interacted with Israel as their God, … Continue reading

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God in the Plural?

Is God plural? You will not understand the answer to that question if you don’t read yesterday’s post, “The Early Christian Definition of the Trinity.” If you don’t want to read two of my posts today, yesterday’s is more important … Continue reading

Posted in Modern Doctrines | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

The Early Christian Definition of the Trinity

A friend of mine is very concerned about my position on the Trinity, despite the fact that I have proven that what I say is not only the view all the apostles’ churches, but also the definition confirmed in the … Continue reading

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Is the Casual Approach to Church Producing Casual Christians?

Originally posted on Not For Itching Ears:
It is worse than it looks! It doesn’t  matter which study you read about the church, because they all say pretty much the same thing:  The church is in decline. The church is…

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Finding the Next Step

Yesterday I talked about working on the next step in church life with friends of mine, though friends far away in California. Today I want to tell you about searching for the next step for people I only heard about … Continue reading

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My Life

I’m not in Africa starting a new church every week. Most days, I face nothing remotely life-threatening. I’ve recovered from leukemia and a marrow transplant better than most people do, and my “new normal” is a lot like my old … Continue reading

Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments