It’s been 20 centuries since Christ was born—and Christian history has been a winding, convoluted tale of unspeakably glorious and depraved saints and sinners.

The Bible is not an easy book and there’s been plenty of time for disagreements on doctrine and practice. The following (long!) list of questions might be helpful prompts for you to think about or reconsider and study further what you believe and why you believe it.

So what do we disagree about? A lot.

THE BIBLE

• Is the Bible our sole, final and highest authority? (Protestant, Baptist, Anabaptist and others)

• Is the Bible best understood as a giant front wheel of a bicycle with a small rear wheel consisting of tradition, reason and experience as helpful non-authoritative guides (Most Christians, especially Methodists and Anglicans)

• How many books comprise the Bible? (all Christians agree on the core 66 and that is the normal Protestant number, 73 for Roman Catholics, 81 for Orthodox Christians)

• Is the Bible infallible? Is it fully the word of God or does it merely contain the word of God?

• Are there any errors in the text? If there are errors in the manuscripts are they trivial and inconsequential or devastating and meaningful enough to potentially overhaul and change primary Christian doctrines?

• Is there a perfect or ideal English translation of the Bible, such as the King James Version? Are the only or best sources for translation the ones used by the original KJV (the Greek Textus Receptus for the NT, Masoretic Hebrew for the OT, the Greek Septuagint for the Apocrypha)?

• Should the Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, and other sacred writings be a part of the Bible? The Book of Enoch (quoted in Jude)? Or does the fact that the Apocrypha was never accepted by the Jews as divinely inspired automatically exclude their valid inclusion in the Canon? If not to be considered Scripture, should these extra works be encouraged or discouraged to be read as non-canonical information (like Macabees for historical information) and edification?

• Is the Westcott and Hort Greek New Testament (relying on older manuscripts like the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus) and on which many modern English translations rely a better textual foundation for translation?

• From a KJV-only or KJV-preferred perspective that finds the Majority Text (Textus Receptus) most reliable, is it true that older manuscripts are not necessarily better manuscripts?

• Is the Septuagint (Greek), the very first translation of the Old Testament, also divinely inspired because (1) the majority of New Testament quotations are from there, and which some argue point more clearly to Jesus, (2) ancient thinkers like Philo and Josephus considered the Septuagint to be equal with the Hebrew Bible, and (3) it was the preferred over the original Hebrew by the Early Church?

• If interpreting the Bible primarily metaphorically is recommended, what is going too far and therefore unacceptable in understanding purely poetically: Genesis 1? The Exodus and plagues? The miracles of Jesus (walking on water, etc.), the physical resurrection of Jesus?, Jonah and the great sea creature?

THE NATURE OF GOD

• Do Muslims, Jews and Christians worship the same God?

• Are Oneness Pentecostals who deny the Trinity still to be considered Christians? Mormons (LDS)? Jehovah's Witnesses? Other groups?

• Does the Holy Spirit proceed only from the Father (Orthodox and others) or from the Father and the Son (Catholic, most Protestants)?

CHURCH STRUCTURE / THE ROLE OF TRADITION

• Is appealing and deferring to authorized church tradition the way we properly interpret the Bible? (Orthodox and Catholic)

• Is the Catholic magisterium given by God to interpret holy tradition authoritatively for all Christians?

• In the Great Schism (A.D. 1054), did the Orthodox churches leave the Catholic Church or was it the Catholic Church that left, falling into divisive heresy? If so, is Protestantism a heresy built on a heresy? Or is true Christian faith not found in imperial state religion but solely in faithfulness to the Scriptures?

• Is the Pope God’s highest representative of Jesus Christ on earth who cannot err on matters of faith and morals and established by Jesus when he said, “on this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:13-20)? Was the “rock” Jesus was referring to Peter himself, thereby potentially divinely instituting the Papacy? Or was it instead Peter’s confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16) which forms the true foundation of the church? In other words, is authentic Christian unity found by (1) tracing a literal apostolic line of succession or (2) in faithfulness to apostolic Scriptural teaching which is the truest form of apostolic succession?

• Did God intend for Christians to find John 17 unity under a one-world, global, hierarchical church structure interpreting Scripture and declaring dogma binding for all Christians? Or is true unity found through our common submission to the Word and our common love for Jesus, graciously allowing for disagreement on secondary doctrines within the life of local churches and denominations?

• How heretical can a Christian’s beliefs be (deviating from orthodox, historic, primary Christian doctrines) to call into question the validity of their faith? Which false beliefs/practices?

• Are historic creeds and confessions (1) authoritatively equal or close to the Bible, (2) helpful guides or (3) to be generally avoided to prevent compromising Scriptural authority?

• Do apostolic traditions serve as a final authority on the interpretation of Scripture? If so, which traditions? Who decides? Or is the Christian believer to submit only to Scripture, which alone is declared by the Lord to be God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16)?

CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP

• Should the pastorate/priesthood be limited to males?

• If it is believed that women should be pastors, should the understanding be analogously along these lines?: that although Scripture does not explicitly condemn slavery, it set all the necessary preconditions guaranteeing its eventual demise (incremental vs revolutionary social change). In the same way, though the full inclusion of women in pastoral leadership is not explictly authorized in the text (and may appear to be ruled out), is there a similar trajectory built into Scripture fulfilled in the eventual demise of the limitation of church leadership to males (making the strict application of 1 Timothy 2:12 or 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 irrelevant today)?

• Or is loving, servant male leadership normative Scripturally (for all times and places) in the life of the home and the church, with both godly fathers and pastors mirroring Christ and His bride (Ephesians 5:22-23)?

• Should pastors/priests be required to be celibate? (Catholic for all clergy, Orthodox for priests only after ordination, as well as all bishops)

• Should there be a sharp clergy/laity distinction? Or should the emphasis rather be on the priesthood of all believers?

• Is denominational ordination mandatory or ideal for Christian service? Is seminary education ideal or required?

WORSHIP PRACTICES

• Should congregational worship and prayer ideally be (1) highly liturgical (to emphasize historic worship and rich theology) or (2) primarily extemporaneous (to emphasize authentic, personal, heartfelt devotion that helps avoid detached rote recitation and “going through the motions”)? If liturgical is best, which liturgy?

• Are painted icons best understood as “windows to heaven” (Orthodox) or as potentially dangerous idolatry?

• Are relics of saints or three-dimensional statues created for veneration a blessed aid to prayer (Catholic, high Anglican) or potential idolatry and not expressly authorized or encouraged by Scripture?

• Does the promise of Jesus to lead the church through the Holy Spirit mean that we should never re-examine ancient beliefs and practices in the light of Scripture and be willing to make adjustments in deference to divine Scriptural authority?

OLD TESTAMENT LAW

• Is the day of worship for the Christian Sabbath Sunday or Saturday?

• Are the Jewish feasts outlined in the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) mandatory or recommended for non-Jewish Christians to celebrate throughout the year?

• Is it binding on all Christians or strongly recommended to follow the Torah commandments and continue ancient Jewish practices (to the extent that is possible without a Temple)?

• Are Christians free to eat any and all foods or are Old Testament dietary regulations and restrictions encouraged or normative for Christians?

• Are tattoos violations of biblical practice (Leviticus 19:28)? Or does Isaiah 44:5 possibly leave room for its acceptance and as part of our freedom in Christ?

• Is the death penalty for murder (Genesis 9:6, Leviticus 24:17) normative today or not in keeping with Christian compassion which may be implied in the New Testament (John 8:3-11)? Or not? (Romans 13:4)

MISSION

• Is the primary goal of the church (1) evangelism, (2) discipleship, (3) contemporary or liturgical worship, (4) social justice, or (5) partnering with governments for social/legal change?

• Is the best relationship of the church and state (1) “symphony,” working closely together with governments to promote the kingdom of God on earth, or (2) “separation,” emphasizing that Christ’s kingdom is not of this world?

NON-HUMAN CREATED BEINGS

• Are Satan, demons and angels (1) simply metaphors or (2) real non-human entities created by God and either holy and faithful or evil and fallen?

• How should Genesis 6 be understood?

• Does Psalm 82 and Deuteronomy 32 teach a divine council of “gods” ruling over pagan nations? Are there both good and malevelont non-human spiritual powers behind human history? Or is all of the above to be dismissed as meaningless, merely importing the superstitious polytheism of ancient Israel’s surrounding nations?

• Can a Christian be demon-possesed? Oppressed?

• What is the validity, method and role of exorcism? To be performed by whom?

ORDINANCES / SACRAMENTS

• Are baptism and communion best understood as (1) sacraments, conveying much-needed saving and/or sanctifying grace, or (2) ordinances, loving obedience to our Savior’s commands?

• Should foot-washing or confession also be considered sacraments since some argue that Jesus may have instituted these as perpetual practices?

• How many ordinances/sacraments are there? Two? Three? Seven? Another number?

BAPTISM

• Who should be baptized?

• Is baptism required for salvation?

• Is the amount of water (1) irrelevant, (2) somewhat important or (3) essential?

• Is the best baptismal practice (1) affusion [pouring], (2) aspersion [sprinkling], (3) partial immersion, [standing/kneeling in shallow water with water poured over head or the head partially/fully submerged], or (4) complete submersion, [full immersion of the entire body]?

• Should baptism be in the Triune name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19) or in the name of Jesus only (Acts 2:38)?

• If in the Triune name, should the candidate go under the water once (most Christians) or three times for each Person of the Trinity? (Orthodox)

• Is infant baptism best understood as a covenant sign that only ultimately avails if the child is one of the unknown predestined elect (Reformed) rather than delivering provisional salvation (baptismal regeneration) which can later be lost through ongoing, willful sin or apostasy?

• Or is baptism reserved only for children and adults who first profess faith in Christ? (Baptist and others)

• For credo-baptists (believer’s baptism advocates), how young is too young to receive baptism?

COMMUNION / THE EUCHARIST / THE LORD’S SUPPER

• Is Communion / the Eucharist / the Lord’s Supper (1) a complete mystery beyond human reason which is improper to attempt dissection rationally, (2) the actual body and blood of Jesus, (3) Jesus present in, with and under the elements, (4) the real non-bodily presence of Christ, or (5) primarily a loving remembrance of the price our Savior paid?

• Should Communion be celebrated (1) yearly, (2) quarterly, (3) monthly (4) weekly, (5) daily, (6) some other combination or (7) not at all?

• Should the elements ideally be (1) fermented wine or unfermented grape juice? (2) leavened or unleavened bread? Is it ever acceptable to replace either of the above elements with other elements not specified in Scripture?

• Is paedocommunion (inclusion of infants and young children) (1) improper and potentially spiritually dangerous, (2) cautiously acceptable or (3) enthusiastically ideal?

MARY AND THE SAINTS

• Is Mary best understood as conceived without sin (Catholic) or preserved sinless (Orthodox) and worthy of prayer and veneration?

• Or was Mary a remarkable saint and model for all believers, albeit a sinner in need of Christ’s forgiveness and redemption?

• Was Mary a perpetual virgin or did she give birth to other children after Jesus?

• Does Mary answer our prayers? Is it the will of Jesus that all believers pray to His mother? If so, how do we know this? If not, why not?

• Is prayer directed to the saints whose souls are no longer on earth a commendable communion with the “cloud of witnesses” mentioned in Hebrews 12 or a biblically indefensible practice bordering on necromancy (Leviticus 19:31)?

• Should prayer only and ever be directed to God alone and never to Mary or other saints?

CHARISMATIC GIFTS

• Are the charismatic sign gifts like tongues, prophecy and healing (1) in full operation today and to be highly encouraged for every Christian, (2) not normative, but still available at God’s discretion, (3) extremely rare and generally not valid today, or (4) completely ceased after the closing of the canon of Scripture?

• Is the gift of tongues the mandatory initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (a second work of grace after salvation) in a believer’s life?

• Is it acceptable to speak in tongues in a public gathering without an interpreter?

SUBSTANCE USE

• Are caffeine, tobacco and alcohol (1) acceptable as good gifts from God to be received and used with wise discretion, or (2) mostly or always unacceptable and to be avoided for mature Christians?

• Does the legalization of mind-altering substances justify proper use by a Christian? If not, is medically-authorized use acceptable?

CREATION / GENESIS

• How old is the earth and universe?

• Are the early chapters of Genesis best understood as (1) an ancient creation myth not meant to be taken literally, (2) a highly literal description of events, or (3) a true telling that has both literal and symbolic elements?

• Genesis 1:1 declares in no uncertain terms that “God created.” Was creation and life brought about by God in (1) six literal days [young earth creationism], (2) an extended period of ages with direct creation [old earth creationism], (3) brilliantly engineered over an unspecified period of time [intelligent design] or (4) set up by God only at the beginning with billions of years of minimally or completely unguided biological development of complexity [evolutionary creationism]? Or another process not mentioned above?

• Are humans genetically related to primates through God-directed evolution through a common biological ancestor?

• Or were we completely and separately engineered directly by God (although with a similar physical design plan to primates, 97%+ identical DNA), but with a radically dissimilar mind, soul and spirit as absolutely unique bearers of His image?

LOSS OF SALVATION

• Can a Christian lose their salvation? If so, is it lost (1) for any sin at any time, (2) for ongoing willful, unrepentant sin, or (3) for rank apostasy only? If potential loss of salvation is the true teaching of Scripture, is there a clear narrative of an authentic, actual believer who loses his salvation in the New Testament (bound for hell, then bound for heaven, then bound for hell again)?

• Is salvation contingent on (1) a Christian’s perseverance by grace in faithfulness and good works, or (2) on Christ’s preservation, secure forever at the moment of initial faith with subsequent faithfulness and good works normative but not strictly necessary to enter eternal life?

• Or is salvation forever because it is impossible to lose eternal life, by definition, once it is received?

• Does failure to persevere in Christian faith and holiness indicate (1) a loss of salvation, or (2) false conversion because true salvation always perseveres? Or (3) regardless of perseverance, is salvation guaranteed and preserved by God once given by Jesus, although sin and unfaithfulness will result in (a) a profound loss of rewards in the next life, (b) often devastating earthly consequences of sin and (c) the breaking of close relational Fatherly fellowship with God?

GRACE, REPENTANCE AND FAITH

• Does regeneration precede faith? In other words, do you need (1) grace and (2) to be made alive spiritually as existing preconditions in order to believe and be saved? (Ephesians 2:1 / Colossians 2:13 / John 6:37,44,65 / Romans 8:8 / Ezekiel 36:25-27)

• Or does faith come first, leading to regeneration? In other words, do you need nothing but the grace given to all (Christ’s death for everyone) as the only precondition in order to believe which then, and only then, results in (1) spiritual life and (2) salvation? (Ezekiel 18:30-32 / Acts 11:18 / John 1:12-13; 5:40; 12:36; 20:31)

• Is repentance (1) prior to faith, (2) a part of saving faith or (3) after saving faith?

• Do all unsaved persons retain the real ability to recognize their need for a Savior (Ezekiel 18:30-32) and are thereby fully responsible for choosing or rejecting Him (Deuteronomy 30:19-20) because they truly had the capacity to accept Him?

• Or are all people after the Fall totally unable to respond in repentance and faith without special, illuminating grace thereby putting ultimate responsibility on God for allowing a sinner’s unbelief through His sovereign decision to not graciously regenerate a particular individual? Is any other perspective some form of Pelagianism?

• Is salvation (1) delivered all at once permanently changing the identity and destiny of the believer by faith forever or (2) is it applied progressively and dependent on human performance aided by God's grace (growth in personal holiness and good works, and for Catholics, mediated through the sacramental system of the Catholic church)?

WHO WILL BE SAVED?

• In the end will all be saved regardless of faith and/or obedience, including Satan and the fallen angels, because it is God’s will to apply the redemption of Christ to forcibly save all creation at the end of history? (universalism) Quick side note: this is different than pluralism because pluralism rejects the uniqueness of Christ as Savior. Instead, it teaches that all religious beliefs are equally true making Jesus nothing more than just another spiritual path among the millions of different paths to God.

• Or is salvation in Christ alone, because no one makes it to heaven without Jesus, but some or many will be in heaven by following Him implicitly but not by Name which God alone can judge? (inclusivism)

• Or is explicit faith in Christ, normally accompanied by baptism and growth in holiness, the only way to Heaven? (exclusivism: salvation is limited to those who believe in and confess Christ)

ORIGINAL SIN

• Are all humans born damned (Romans 3:23) requiring salvation from their infant state of inherited guilt from the ancestral sin of Adam through baptismal regeneration? (some Catholic, Lutheran, and others)

• Or is original sin best understood not as guilt (Ezekiel 18:20), but rather the terrible consequences of our Adamic inheritance: (1) physical death, (2) spiritual separation from God and (3) a dark gravity which creates a strong and inevitable tendency towards committing sin? (Orthodox, many non-Reformed/non-Lutheran Christians)

• If we are born guilty, rather than only bearing the consequences of Adam’s sin, can we now sin and transmit guilt to another person? Can we now be declared guilty of an act which we haven’t committed?

• Is there an age of accountability before which God does not hold an infant/young child morally responsible and therefore exempt from damnation? (non-Reformed Baptist, Anabaptist, many others) Or is the whole concept foreign to Scripture?

• Can we reasonably expect from Scriptural implications (2 Samuel 12:23) that all children who die prior to knowing the difference between good and evil (Deuteronomy 1:39) are destined for heaven or not?

• Is even the desire for salvation best understood as entirely of God, because unaided human will is spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1-5) due to original sin, thereby requiring God to elect whosoever He wills and pass over the rest? (Reformed)

• Or did the Fall profoundly disfigure human free will but ultimately and essentially leave intact sufficient capacity within all sinners to become aware of their lost condition and respond to God’s offer of rescue? If so, do all sinners have the moral ability and obligation (2 Peter 3:9, John 7:17) to recognize their need for a Savior and avail themselves of the grace provided to all the world on the cross of Calvary? (many non-Reformed Protestants, Orthodox)

SOVEREIGNTY

• Is God sovereign in that He decrees all things that come to pass (every meticulous detail of every event) somewhat analogous to the absolute control of a puppet master or a chess master playing both sides of a chessboard?

• Or is God sovereign in that He is the Lord over genuinely free-will possessing image bearers more analogous to a Chess Grandmaster whose opponents freely play but can never defeat the Grandmaster?

• Was humanity’s ability to recognize our fallen condition and turn to God completely destroyed in the Fall (total depravity) requiring sovereign grace to awaken sinners from spiritual death to recognize their need for a Savior?

• Is prevenient grace (grace given by God to all people sufficient to respond but insufficient to save) a reasonable alternate understanding? Or is that a biblically-unfounded theological invention?

• Or is a better understanding that the preaching of Gospel in and of itself contains the gracious power of God (1 Thessalonians 1:5 / Romans 1:16, 15:19 / 1 Corinthians 1:17) for all people to awaken the lost to their need for a Savior who died for all, to recognize their predicament and either cry out to the Savior for help or ratify their condemnation through willful rejection of the Gospel? Or is that Pelagianism/semi-Pelagianism?

EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT

• Did Jesus die for all who have ever lived? Or was His death intended only for a predetermined group of the elect with not one drop of His blood “wasted?”

• Can we look at a random group of humans and tell any one of them confidently, “Jesus died for you,” without reservation or qualifications because Jesus died for all? Or would that be potentially bearing false witness if we believe in two predetermined groups of pre-chosen elect and non-elect?

• Or is the grace of atonement best understood as the Father’s provision of Jesus Christ as the Savior of the whole world in which Jesus died for all people and that any and all can come to Him? Does this mean that those who are eventually damned had the genuine ability and opportunity to turn to Christ but forfeited the grace that could have been theirs (Jonah 2:8)?

PREDESTINATION

• Is grace best defined as salvation through God’s individual predestination, election, provision in Christ, calling, saving and persevering of a pre-selected group of people unilaterally, not conditioned by God’s foreknowledge of human responses to the free offer of the Gospel? (Reformed)

• Or is predestination best understood not as who is individually chosen to be saved in eternity past because Christ died for everyone? Is it better to understand, rather, that all who are “in Christ” (preconditioned by faith) now become predestined (the “destination” not being initial salvation) to the ultimate destination of (1) conformity to Christ’s image, (2) glorification, (3) adoption (Romans 8:23) and a future (4) inheritance of permanent residence in the “new heavens and the new earth” (Romans 8:29,30 / Ephesians 1:5, 11)? (non-Reformed)

• Are none, some or all of the 5 points (T.U.L.I.P.) of Calvinism true?

• Does predestination in eternity past by “sovereign grace” ultimately mean that the elect were never truly lost and in actual peril regarding their ultimate destiny since in the mind and will of God they were ordained (and therefore guaranteed) to be saved in eternity past? If so, does this mean that the non-elect can never be saved under any circumstance because they were preordained and chosen to be damned (or simply passed over) in God’s intention to only be merciful to some for His own glory?

• Or is the Gospel freely available to any and all, meaning every person on earth can and should seek union with Jesus by faith, and once “in Christ,” to only then become predestined for glorification?

• Is God’s perfect and expressly stated will that all would be saved (2 Peter 3:9) left unaccomplished in deference to human free will or does God have two wills (a secret decretive will behind His public revealed will)?

• Is God’s grace His irresistible compelling of some sinners into heaven who would otherwise lack the desire or ability to respond to the Gospel unto salvation?

• Or does our sovereign God allow libertarian free will for His creatures to accept His gift of salvation in Christ or reject Him unto damnation when they genuinely could have done otherwise?

FAMILY / SEXUALITY / GENDER ROLES

• Is a Christian family to be limited only to the following norm: the lifelong marriage of one biological man and one biological woman along with their natural/adopted children?

• Is deviation from the above norm (1) a sinful violation of God’s will and clear Scriptural teaching, (2) merely different, reflecting God’s creative variety or (3) to be strongly encouraged as a welcome overhaul in social norms?

• Is remarriage after divorce (1) always sinful, (2) preferably avoided but cautiously allowed, or (3) perfectly acceptable under certain conditions?

• Polygamy is not explicitly condemned as sin in Scripture (Abraham, Jacob and the 12 tribes of Israel) although a tragic deviation from Genesis 2:24, reinforced as substandard by Jesus in Matthew 19:4-6. Polygamy is described very unflatteringly in Scripture with pain and anguish for all involved. Is it therefore (1) allowed but disqualifying for male eldership (1 Timothy 3:2), (2) technically permissible but profoundly foolish, or (3) always sinful?

• Are head coverings (1 Corinthians 11:1-16) for women (1) mandatory (2) strongly/casually recommended or (3) not advised at all in our modern times?

• Are men and women (1) equal in dignity and worth but not in role, limited automatically by gender (complementarianism) or (2) fully equal in any and every potential role, limited only by gifting (egalitarianism)? Or (3) somewhere in the middle?

• Is androgynous dress and appearance to be avoided (Genesis 1:27), if not actually sinful (Deuteronomy 22:5), or simply a part of our liberty in Christ?

THE LIFE TO COME

• Is purgatory real - a place of final purging of venial sins in the fire of God’s holy love before entering heaven - or an extrabiblical theological invention? (Catholic)

• Is the return of Christ literal? Is it in the future? Has it already happened?

• Is Hell a poetic metaphor or a real place?

• Is Hell never-ending (traditional) or will the unjust and unsaved eventually be graciously taken out of existence (annihilationism)?

• Is dispensationalism correct in seeing two distinct redemptive plans for Gentiles in the “church age” as well as future promises yet to be fulfilled in national Israel?

• Does dispensationalism excessively rely on a historical-grammatical-literal approach to reading Scripture inadvertently warping the meaning of the text? Is covenant theology a better or worse approach?

• Is a less well-defined, but Christocentric / Christotelic system more ideal? Or is there an even better way to have an organized understanding of the Bible?

• Will there be a secret rapture prior to the public Second Coming? If there is, will it be (1) before, (2) in the middle of, or (3) at the end of the Tribulation? Or is the return of Christ a singular event without multiple phases? (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17)

• Is the Millenium (1000 years) described in Revelation 20 (1) completely or partly fulfilled in A.D. 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem (preterism or partial-preterism), (2) still yet to come at an unknown future date preceding a literal 1000 years, generally viewing the future growing darker spiritually before the Second Coming (historic or dispensational premillenialism), or (3) metaphorical (amillennialism), where in the poetic 1000 years that has already begun (our present age), the Christian church experiences mixed victory and suffering prior to Christ’s return or (4) will Christ return only after a literal/metaphorical 1000 years are complete (postmillenialism) with ever-increasing victory for the church (“The Great Commission will entirely succeed” is a common postmillenial slogan) leading to the vast majority of humanity saved, prosperous and living by God’s Word at the return of Christ?