Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The Reformed Doctrine Stated & Briefly Vindicated from Scripture THE REFORMED VIEW ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL PRESBYTERIAN DOCTRINE The contrast between Law and Gospel is often treated as if it were a uniquely Lutheran idea, but Reformed doctrine also uses such a formulation. In fact, the distinction is important to understanding…
According to N. T. Wright : By “the gospel” Paul does not mean “justification by faith” itself. He means the announcement that the crucified and risen Jesus is Lord. To believe this message, to give believing allegiance to Jesus as Messiah and Lord, is to be justified in the present…
Imagine two strangers who happen to be standing on the same subway train; we’ll call one Joe and the other Larry. Joe accidentally steps on the Larry’s foot so that he, in a flash of pain, thinking Joe did it intentionally, resorts to name calling and says something about Joe’s…
Imagine being a small child at an orphanage. One day, one of your caretakers comes rushing to you as you play in the common yard. “I have great news!” she tells you, excitedly. “What is it?” you ask. “A wonderful family has adopted you. They’re at the courthouse right now…
The Westminster Standards, Repentance, & Pardon REPENTANCE ENTAILS ALL OF LIFE According the Westminster Divines, “repentance to life” is an “evangelical” (WCF 15.1) and “saving” (WLC #87) “grace”. By it, a sinner, out of the sight and sense not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness…
Click HERE for an audio version of this article. For Part 2, click HERE . The ordination of women to the Christian ministry, specifically the pastoral office of overseeing worship and performing preaching and the Lord’s Supper, is a recent development in Church history. From the early church until the…
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The blind man in John 9 passes through the waters and gets attached to Jesus, Joshua. His parents are afraid of being kicked out of the old world, the world on the other side of the water of exodus. As several students have pointed out to me, the parents are…
Contrary to some trends of modern NT scholarship, Paul and John inhabit the very same world of thought, ask the same questions, address the same problems. One hint of this: John 8 focuses attention, at turgid length, on the question of Jewish origin and identity. The Jews claim to be…
Psalm 104: All wait for the Lord, that He may give them their food in due season. What He gives them they gather in; He opens His hand, they are filled with good. Each week we come to church and gather at a table. That might seem odd way to…
Paul insisted that Christians had the right to eat meat that had been prepared in sacrificial rituals to idols. Idols are nothing, all food comes from God, and food that had been sacrificed to nothings should be received with thanksgiving like everything else. Paul also knew that some Christians disagreed.…
“They pierced my hands and my feet.” The words are the words of David, but we know that the voice is the voice of David’s Son, Jesus. They are the hands of the last Adam. The first Adam stretched out his hand to take the fruit of the tree of…
Despite his characterization of the medieval system as “Constantinian,” Yoder recognizes that “the risk of caricature is great,” and he offers this balanced assessment: “the church in the Middle Ages retained a more than vestigial consciousness of its distinctness from the world. The higher level of morality asked of the…
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