THE BIBLE VERSUS CALVINISM: A SUMMARY

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SUMMARY OF JACK COTTRELL’S “COLLECTED WRITINGS” SERIES: VOLUME FOUR: THE BIBLE VERSUS CALVINISM, by Jack Cottrell INTRODUCTION Calvinism is one of the most widespread, most accepted, and most destructive of all the false doctrines that permeate Christendom today. It is the framework of Presbyterianism, of all denominations that describe themselves as “Reformed,” and of many independent churches. Aspects of its system have filtered over into many churches that are not fully Calvinistic. Much of my academic career has been devoted to examining and refuting this anti-Biblical system, as this volume suggests. It is obvious, then, that this “Volume 4” of … Continue reading →

THE GOD OF THE BIBLE: A SUMMARY

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SUMMARY OF JACK COTTRELL’S “COLLECTED WRITINGS” SERIES: VOLUME THREE: THE GOD OF THE BIBLE, by Jack Cottrell INTRODUCTION The third volume in my “Collected Writings” series is all about God, and is titled The God of the Bible. It contains 30 rather brief studies of various aspects of God’s NATURE (part one) and God’s WORKS (part two). It is impossible for me to summarize all of the essays here. I will select a few for this purpose, and just basically list the others that appear in the two sections. PART ONE A. “Describing God” (pp. 3-9). Here I give very … Continue reading →

GOD’S WORD IS TRUTH: A SUMMARY

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SUMMARY OF JACK COTTRELL’S “COLLECTED WRITINGS” SERIES: VOLUME TWO: GOD’S WORD IS TRUTH, by Jack Cottrell INTRODUCTION Here I will attempt to summarize volume 2 of my “Collected Writings” series, titled God’s Word Is Truth. When I decided to tackle this “CW” project, my desire was to lump earlier-written, miscellaneous essays and lessons together under one general subject per volume. I have been able to do that, for the most part. This volume has eleven essays, most of which relate to the nature of the Bible. PART ONE This volume is divided into two sections, the first of which contains … Continue reading →

THE UNITY OF TRUTH: A SUMMARY

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SUMMARY OF JACK COTTRELL’S “COLLECTED WRITINGS” SERIES: VOLUME ONE: THE UNITY OF TRUTH, BY Jack Cottrell INTRODUCTION My 18-volume set of “Collected Writings” began in the following way. My lifelong work has centered around the idea of the reality of truth, or “sound doctrine.” This is based on the evidence for and conviction of the inerrancy and authority of the Bible. Many Christians accept this view of the Bible, and the reality of its truth, but leave it up to each individual to place his or her own meaning upon specific Biblical teachings: “You interpret it your way; I’ll interpret … Continue reading →

GOD’S DRESS CODE

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GOD’S DRESS CODE INTRODUCTION. Most of us have had to abide by dress codes at one time or another, e.g., at work or at school. When I was a student at the Cincinnati Bible Seminary in the late 1950s, one aspect of the dress code was that the hems of women students’ skirts and dresses could not be higher than the knees. This was later changed to say that the hems could be no higher than two inches above the knees. (Some of us wondered who had the responsibility of carrying around a tape measure and making sure the code … Continue reading →

Fundamental Facts about the Book of Revelation

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A SUMMARY OF SIX FUNDAMENTAL FACTS ABOUT THE BOOK OF REVELATION By JACK COTTRELL I. THE REAL-TIME EVENTS described therein are happening to John in TWO distinct places: (1) chapters 1-3 are happening on this earth; (2) chs. 4-22 are happening in the throne-room of God. II. THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF NARRATIVES therein. (1) Some are real-time, historical events experienced by John or described to John: (a) ch. 1 – John is visited by Jesus on Patmos; (b) chs. 2-3 – the status of seven Asian churches as described by Jesus to John; (c) chs. 4-22 – John’s experiences … Continue reading →

Fundamental Facts about the Book of Revelation

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A SUMMARY OF SIX FUNDAMENTAL FACTS ABOUT THE BOOK OF REVELATION By JACK COTTRELL I. THE REAL-TIME EVENTS described therein are happening to John in TWO distinct places: (1) chapters 1-3 are happening on this earth; (2) chs. 4-22 are happening in the throne-room of God. II. THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF NARRATIVES therein. (1) Some are real-time, historical events experienced by John or described to John: (a) ch. 1 – John is visited by Jesus on Patmos; (b) chs. 2-3 – Jesus describes to John the status of seven typical churches, then existing in Asia Minor; (c) chs. 4-22 … Continue reading →

LIFE AS A SLAVE

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LIFE AS A SLAVE — ROMANS 6:16-23 Jack Cottrell – First Church of Christ, Greendale, IN – July 19, 2020 INTRODUCTION Slavery has been in the news quite a bit recently, mainly because it is associated with the number-one subject of controversy in our country, namely, RACISM. Racism is presently regarded as the worst of all evils, and slavery is seen as the worst expression of racism. Thus, everything associated with slavery is automatically thought of as being evil, and therefore it must go! For example, all statues of historical figures who ever owned slaves must be torn down, no … Continue reading →

THE PARADOX OF PRAYER

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THE PARADOX OF PRAYER JACK COTTRELL – 2020      QUESTION:   If God can do whatever He chooses, and if He really loves us, why doesn’t He answer all of our prayers?       ANSWER:  The answer to this question might seem like a paradox to some, but here is at least part of the deal:  God does not answer all of our prayers just because He loves us!.       Here I will approach this issue based on James 5:13-18.  I will use this text to help resolve the paradox of prayer.  First, I will make some general comments on these verses … Continue reading →

THE SINNER’S PRAYER

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THE SINNER’S PRAYER — JACK COTTRELL – 2020      QUESTION:  In my evangelistic efforts I occasionally encounter someone who says something like this:  “I have already said the sinner’s prayer; thus I am saved and I do not need to do anything else.”  How can I respond to this kind of statement?  Does the Bible say anything about a “sinner’s prayer”?      ANSWER:  The “sinner’s prayer” is often used in conservative Protestantism as the means of bringing a sinner to salvation.  The problem is that the folks who use this method of evangelism are “faith-only” in the sense that they … Continue reading →