I added a page on the Seventh Day Adventists (https://www.christian-history.org/what-are-seventh-day-adventists.html).

I have been reading a history of the pietists and a book by one of their early writers. I also got some input on the modern state of some pietists from someone on Facebook, so pietism will probably be my next page.

My book, Rebuilding the Foundations, argues for a basic understanding of salvation that is summed up very well in 2 Peter 1:3-11. The hardest part of the book was the first page. For evangelicals, the book is very controversial, and I did not want to scare them away before I could present my case. I think, and hope, I found a way to do that.

Basically, the book argues that although we are given "everything that pertains to life and godliness" (2 Pet. 1:3) by grace through faith apart from works (Eph. 2:8-9), that is not the same as going to heaven apart from works. Instead, the Bible teaches that the beginning of our journey is by faith, then it is lived by Jesus' life in us, and at the end we will judged by our works. Again, this is said pretty clearly in 2 Peter 1:3-11.

Another passage summing up that doctrine of salvation is Romans 7:24-8:13. There we read first that we are powerless, even with a perfect law, to do good. Then we read that what the law could not do, God did. He did this by sending his own Son as a sacrifice for us, so that we can live righteously by the Holy Spirit. That passage ends by telling us that if we put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit, then we will live, but if we live by the flesh, we will die. Galatians 6:7-9 echoes those words.

If you read through the Early Christianity pages on Christian-history.org--or even better, the quote pages--you will find that the description of salvation I just gave is what the churches taught when they were still one Church.

To me, this is the most important thing I can tell you with my site. Today, most evangelicals believe we were saved from wrath when Jesus died for us, but Romans 5:9-10 shows us that the apostle Paul did not believe this. We all know James 2 speaks against this. Peter warns us to fear the coming judgment (1 Pet. 1:17).

A lot of the writing I do on my blog at Ancient-Faith.com is to help evangelicals understand that a judgment by works is not the terrible thing that Calvinist doctrine has taught us it is. We are going to be judged by Jesus who died for us and the God who gave us the favor (grace) by which we are saved.