Nobody names their own movement after an insult — but that's exactly what happened with the Methodists. In this episode, we trace the surprising origin of one of America's largest denominations, starting with two brothers at Oxford who couldn't stand how cold and formal the Church of England had become.

We follow John and Charles Wesley from their disciplined little Bible study group — mockingly called the "Holy Club" — through a heart-changing night on Aldersgate Street in 1738, and all the way to the American frontier, where circuit riders on horseback carried the gospel to settlers who had never seen the inside of a church building.

It's a story about people who took their faith seriously enough to be systematic about it, and how that seriousness sparked a revival that spread across two continents.

Read: https://ready4eternity.com/why-so-many-churches-how-the-methodists-got-their-name-part-14/

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The word "heretic" gets thrown around a lot in Christian circles. But what does the New Testament actually say makes someone a heretic? The answer is shorter, and more surprising, than you might think.

Read: https://ready4eternity.com/what-really-makes-someone-a-heretic/

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What does it mean to be "by nature children of wrath" in Ephesians 2:3? Most readers assume Paul is confirming the doctrine of inherited sinful nature — that we are born corrupt, guilty before we ever make a choice. But a closer look at the Greek, the immediate context, and the witness of early church history tells a different story. In this episode we examine what Paul actually meant, why it matters for how we understand sin and grace, and why this reading disappeared from the church after Augustine reshaped Western Christianity in the 5th century.

Read: https://ready4eternity.com/are-we-born-sinful-or-do-we-become-sinful-what-by-nature-really-means-in-ephesians-23/

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