About Judah Lamb

Dr. Judah Lamb (M.Div., Ph.D.) wasn't destined for the dusty halls of academia. After finishing his doctorate in theology in 2017, he traded intricate footnoting for a storyteller's pen.

He recognized, as many theologians do, that true faith is often best understood through story.

Inspired by authors like C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Frank Peretti, Judah sought to combine his years of ministry and theological study with the captivating world of Christian suspense, thrillers, and fantasy. The result? Novels that are not just thrilling but thought-provoking. Judah weaves his deep understanding of faith and the human condition into gripping stories that explore the battle between good and evil. He also writes devotional works, informed and academic in substance but easily accessible to any Christian without a high-level theology education. Prepare to be surprised, challenged, and left breathless by his unique blend of action, suspense, and inspiration.

What I Believe

I am a Catholic Christian. Most of what follows is the common inheritance of Christians everywhere, summed up in the Nicene Creed that believers have confessed together for more than sixteen centuries. Where I speak as a Catholic, I have tried to explain why, with the Scriptures that shaped my convictions. Whatever your tradition, if you love Jesus Christ, you are my brother or sister in Him, and I hope my stories serve you well.

I. The Nature of God

One God in Three Persons: I believe in one living and true God, eternally existing in three co-equal Persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14). This triune God is infinite, eternal, unchangeable, and perfect in power, wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness, and love (Psalm 90:2; Malachi 3:6; 1 John 4:8).

The Creator and Sustainer: God is the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible (Genesis 1:1; Colossians 1:16). He upholds and governs all creation according to His wise and loving providence (Psalm 103:19; Acts 17:28; Hebrews 1:3).

II. Jesus Christ, the Son of God

True God and True Man: I believe in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, one divine Person with two natures, fully God and fully man (John 1:1, 14; Colossians 2:9). He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:35; Galatians 4:4).

Atonement and Resurrection: He lived a sinless life, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, offering Himself as the one perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world (Romans 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24; Hebrews 9:28; 1 John 2:2). On the third day He rose bodily from the dead, conquering sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 6:9).

Ascension and Reign: He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, where He reigns as Lord and intercedes for His people (Acts 1:9-11; Hebrews 7:25; Ephesians 1:20-22).

III. The Holy Spirit

The Lord and Giver of Life: I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified (John 14:26; 15:26).

Presence and Power: He dwells in believers, convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8), and pours out His gifts so that the whole Body of Christ is built up in love (Romans 8:9-11; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Acts 2:38).

IV. Scripture and Tradition

The Word of God, Inspired and True: The Holy Scriptures are the divinely inspired written Word of God, teaching without error the truth God wished to reveal for our salvation (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21). I read them daily, and they are the heart of everything I write.

The Full Canon: The Old Testament I receive includes the books often called the Deuterocanon (or Apocrypha), such as Tobit, Wisdom, Sirach, and 1 and 2 Maccabees. These books were part of the Greek Septuagint that the apostles commonly used, and the Church read them as Scripture from the earliest centuries.

The Living Tradition: Before a single book of the New Testament was written, the Gospel was handed on by the preaching of the apostles. Saint Paul tells the Thessalonians to "stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter" (2 Thessalonians 2:15), and he calls the Church "the pillar and bulwark of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). I believe Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition flow from the same divine source and belong together, and that the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter are entrusted with faithfully guarding and teaching them. That teaching office is not above the Word of God but serves it.

Many of my Protestant friends hold to Scripture alone, out of a deep and admirable love for God's Word. I share that love. What persuaded me was a simple question: how do we know which books belong in the Bible? The answer, historically, is that the Church, guided by the Spirit and by the apostolic tradition, recognized and received them. For me, that made Scripture, Tradition, and the Church a single gift rather than rivals.

Sacred Tradition and Human Traditions: Sacred Tradition, the apostolic faith handed on through the ages, is different from the many human customs Christians develop to express that faith. Customs can change; the deposit of faith does not (Mark 7:8-9; Colossians 2:8; Jude 3).

V. The Ecumenical Councils

I affirm the teaching of the Ecumenical Councils, beginning with the seven great councils of the early Church, which defined the doctrines of the Trinity and of Christ that Christians of East and West still hold in common:

• First Council of Nicaea (325)
• First Council of Constantinople (381)
• Council of Ephesus (431)
• Council of Chalcedon (451)
• Second Council of Constantinople (553)
• Third Council of Constantinople (680–681)
• Second Council of Nicaea (787)

With the Catholic Church, I also receive the later councils, through the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965).

VI. Humanity and Salvation

The Human Condition: Every human being is created in the image of God, with dignity from the first moment of life (Genesis 1:27; Psalm 139:13-16). Through the sin of our first parents, human nature was wounded. We inherit original sin, and none of us can save ourselves (Romans 3:23; 5:12; Psalm 51:5). Yet sin does not erase the image of God in us; grace comes to heal and restore it.

Salvation by Grace: Salvation is God's free gift, received by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not earned by our own works (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5). As Pope Benedict XVI put it in 2008, "Luther's phrase: 'faith alone' is true, if it is not opposed to faith in charity, in love." Faith, he went on, is "looking at Christ, entrusting oneself to Christ, being united to Christ, conformed to Christ, to his life."

A Living Faith: Saving faith is not mere intellectual agreement (James 2:19). It is a living faith working through love (Galatians 5:6), by which God truly makes us new and conforms us to Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). It means taking up our cross and following Him daily, trusting His grace to carry us to the end (Luke 9:23; Philippians 1:6; 2:12-13; 1 John 2:3-6).

VII. The Church and the Sacraments

One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic: I believe in the one Church Jesus founded on the apostles (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 2:19-20), which I believe subsists in the Catholic Church, shepherded by the successor of Peter and the bishops in communion with him. At the same time, I gladly affirm that all who are baptized into Christ are truly joined to His Body (Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 12:13) and are my brothers and sisters, even where our communion is not yet complete. I pray with Jesus "that they may all be one" (John 17:21).

The Sacraments: Christ gives His grace through seven sacraments: Baptism, by which we are born again of water and the Spirit (John 3:5; Titus 3:5); Confirmation (Acts 8:14-17); the Eucharist; Reconciliation, in which the risen Lord forgives sins through the ministry He gave His apostles (John 20:21-23); the Anointing of the Sick (James 5:14-15); Holy Orders (2 Timothy 1:6); and Matrimony (Ephesians 5:31-32).

The Eucharist: I believe that in the Eucharist Jesus is truly present, Body and Blood, soul and divinity, just as He said: "This is my body" (Luke 22:19; John 6:51-56; 1 Corinthians 10:16; 11:23-29). It is the source and summit of the Christian life, the one sacrifice of Calvary made present, never repeated.

Mission: The Church is sent to proclaim the Gospel to all nations, to make disciples, and to serve the poor and the least, as Christ Himself did (Matthew 25:40; 28:19-20).

VIII. Mary and the Communion of Saints

The Mother of the Lord: I honor Mary as the Mother of God, as the Council of Ephesus confessed, because the child she bore is God the Son (Luke 1:43). Her whole life points to her Son, and her last recorded words in the Gospels are the best advice I know: "Do whatever he tells you" (John 2:5). With the Church I believe that God preserved her from all sin by the grace of her Son, that she remained ever-virgin, and that at the end of her life she was taken up body and soul into glory. "All generations will call me blessed" (Luke 1:48).

The Communion of Saints: The Church is one family in heaven and on earth. Because death cannot separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:38-39), those who have gone before us remain united to us and pray for us (Hebrews 12:1; Revelation 5:8; 8:3-4), just as we ask one another for prayer here (James 5:16). The saints are not rivals to Christ; they are His masterpieces. It would not honor Michelangelo to ignore, or heaven forbid, despise his great sculptures and paintings; to honor those masterpieces is to honor the artist himself. So it is with the saints. God's greatest works of art are the lives He has forged in His image. To honor the canvas of saintly lives is to honor the Artist; to ignore them would be to disrespect His loving artistry.

IX. The End of All Things

Christ's Return: I believe in the blessed hope: the personal, visible, and glorious return of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:11; Revelation 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Judgment and Eternal Life: There will be a resurrection of the dead and a final judgment (John 5:28-29; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Those who die in God's grace and friendship but are not yet fully purified are made ready for heaven through a final purification by His mercy (1 Corinthians 3:13-15; Revelation 21:27). Those who freely and finally refuse God's love remain separated from Him forever (Matthew 25:31-46). God desires all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), and I look forward to the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come, when God will wipe away every tear (Revelation 21:4).