Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
OUR REFORMED HERITAGE When a Reformed Christian hears “baptismal regeneration,” what comes to mind? “Heresy,” most likely. Unfortunately, many in the Reformed community today have lost touch with some important aspects of their own heritage. If Reformed theology is going to continue reforming according to Scripture, we must recover the…
Faith and assurance are recurring subjects of controversy in Evangelical circles. We all agree that we are saved by the righteousness of Christ reckoned to us, which we receive through faith alone. Jesus lived and died and rose again as the representative of his people so that all of them…
What’s at stake (or not!) for Reformed Pastors regarding the contemporary discussion of Paul and “the works of the law”? There has been a great deal of talk lately about “the New Perspective on Paul” and the works of, among others, Ed Sanders, James Dunn, and N. T. Wright. Each…
When Christ enjoins upon the young man the duty of following him (Mt. 19:23), he does not give a counsel, but a command to all in common because no one can have a hope of salvation unless he follows Christ (2 Pet. 2:21), although from a particular cause it is…
This short paper is not an attempt to provide a comprehensive analysis and defense of N. T. Wright, much less the so-called “New Perspective on Paul” as a whole. Indeed, Wright’s theological project has some failings and the New Perspective as a movement must be considered a mixed bag of…
Leviticus 1:3-13, Translation 3 If his Nearbringing is an Ascension from the herd, a perfect male shall he bring him near. To the forecourt of the Tent of Meeting he shall bring him near, for his acceptance before Yahweh. 4 And he shall lean his hand on the head of…
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In a couple earlier posts, I’ve commented on the “intrinsicism” in Athanasius.  One additional point: Rather than seeing intrinstic/extrinsic as metaphysical opposites, Athanasius’ sees the question in a redemptive-historical, eschatological framework.  Extrinsicism is the order of the old, intrinsicism, because of the incarnation, is the order of the new. That…
Athanasius employs much of the same language and makes some of the same conceptual moves in talking about the Son’s relation to the Father on the one hand and the Son’s incarnation in the flesh on the other. The Son is “proper to” the Father’s essence; so too the flesh…
It’s common sense that origin determines destiny.  That which is born of flesh is flesh, and remains so; that which is born of earth returns to the earth. This is the common sense that the gospel subverts.  Men originated from earth are remade after the image of the heavenly man;…
Athanasius regularly compares the Arians to Jews and Judaizers.  This is not merely name-calling.  The obvious comparison is that both Jews and Arians deny that Jesus is the eternal Son. But something more subtle is going on here too, perhaps: If the Son is not eternal and equal to the…
The Spirit who comes to dwell “in” us is the Spirit who is “in” the Son, who is also “in” the Father.  By grace, we are capacious enough to house God. But it goes in the opposite direction too: We live and move “in” the Spirit, who is “in” the…
Athanasius expounds the prayer of Jesus in John 17 as follows: “whence is this their perfecting, but that I, Your Word, having borne their body, and become man, have perfected the work, which You gave Me, O Father? And the work is perfected, because men, redeemed from sin, no longer remain dead; but being deified ,…
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