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1 Corinthians

The Great Exchange: Understanding Second Corinthians 5.21

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. My argument is simple: What Paul means in writing the quotation above in context is the same as what he was telling the Ephesians when he wrote,…

by Mark HorneJune 7, 2004
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Biblical Theology

What is Biblical Theology (Part 3) : The Art of Biblical Theology

THE ART OF BIBLICAL THEOLOGY IN PRACTICE: INTERTEXTUALITY AND TWO PAULINE CASE STUDIES The Art of Biblical Theology: Intertextuality Biblical Theology is really an art. Like other skills of this sort, it is not a matter of following rules (though there are certainly guidelines and techniques). Rather, it’s matter of…

by Rich LuskJune 6, 2004
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Biblical Theology

What is Biblical Theology: (Part 2) The Christotelic Spiral

Click HERE for Part 1 Reading Christotelically Jesus Christ is the heart of God’s plan for creation and history. There is no “hidden plan” or “hidden God” lurking behind Christ; rather, in and through Christ God has revealed himself and his intentions towards the world. In Christ, the Father has…

by Rich LuskJune 6, 2004
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Biblical Studies

What is Biblical Theology? (Part 1)

STORY THEOLOGY AND A THEOLOGY OF STORY Defining Biblical Theology What is Biblical Theology? How does it compare to other ways of doing theology, such as Systematic Theology? Geerhardus Vos suggested that whereas Biblical Theology draws a line, Systematic Theology draws a circle. That is to say, Biblical Theology is…

by Rich LuskJune 6, 2004
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Hebrews

Living by His Faith: Some Rough Thoughts on the Faithfulness of Christ

The gospels strongly imply Jesus lived by faith in the promise of his heavenly Father. How else can his prayer life understood? How else could he have wrestled through the Gethsemane experience? How else could he have committed himself into his Father’s care at death? How could Jesus have presented…

by Rich LuskJune 6, 2004
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John

John 3:16

John 3:16 is probably best-known, or at least, best-liked Bible passage in North America: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” This declaration of God’s love of the whole world is greatly comforting…

by Mark HorneJune 6, 2004

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Quadrigizing Revelation

Evangelicals generally classify interpretations of Revelation as futurist, historicist, idealist, or preterist. For futurists, the book of Revelation describes the events leading up to the end of the space-time universe, the final coming of Jesus. Futurist interpretations need not be pre-millennial, but they often are. Historicist read Revelation as an…

March 18, 2015

Holes in the Head

Our head is the governing part of our body. We think in our brains, and our brains send signals through the nervous system to the rest of our bodies. It's no accident that “head” is an ancient and still current symbol of authority and rule: Head coach, Head of School,…

March 18, 2015

Apocalypse in Social-Scientific Perspective

Commentators have used social scientific theories and models to try to explicate the social setting of biblical books and their authors. Bruce Malina has been a leading figure in applying these models to Revelation. We can get the general idea from his Social Science Commentary on Revelation , co-authored with…

March 17, 2015

Abstraction and Atonement Theory

Atonement theories abound. Christus Victor says Jesus triumphed over Satan; sacrificial theories say that Jesus offered Himself as a vicarious sacrifice; recently, a number of theologians have emphasized the corporate, ecclesial dimensions of the atonement. All true. We don't need to choose among them. Revelation 12:11 makes that plain: “They…

March 17, 2015

Formalist Natural Law

I previously commented on RJ Snell's The Perspective of Love , which offers “natural law in a new mode.” Snell was recently interviewed by Ken Myers of Mars Hill Audio, and the interviewed revealed an important feature of Snell's natural law theory - its formalism. Snell emphasized that natural law…

March 17, 2015

Eucharistic Fast

At the center of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches about three duties of Jewish piety – alms, prayer, and fasting. Regarding the last, He says, “when you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites, for they render their faces unrecognizable in order to be…

March 17, 2015

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