Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Misunderstanding “Galatianism” has caused several problems in the Reformed church. Because circumcision is at issue in the Galatian epistle, some have fallen into thinking that ritual per se, rather than anything uniquely Mosaic or Jewish, is the object of Paul’s critique. Likewise, his polemic against “works of the law” is…
Many texts in the NT become more perspicuous if we keep in mind the possibility — and indeed ubiquity — of Gentile God-fearers in the Old Covenant. After the special covenant with Israel is set up, Gentiles are not altogether excluded from the hope of salvation. Israel’s special status in…
I was once trying to get a sermon out of Ephesians 1.12-14 and it seemed obvious that I should look for two parallel statements both ending with the phrase, “to the praise of his glory.” Paul here begins talking about two groups of people (“you” and “we”), and he later…
WHY A DENOMINATION WITH SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN ROOTS SHOULD CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE “NEW PERSPECTIVE ON PAUL” In my denomination, the PCA, we are continually haunted by the sins of our racist Southern past. It has become an annual rite at General Assembly for the issue to be addressed one way or…
Recent debates over whether or not, “justification is central” to Paul’s theology have reminded me of a sermon I once heard by a Presbyterian seminary student. This African American student challenged his audience on the sin of racism and the ways it might manifest itself among us. Like any good…
In Charles Hodge’s 1853 article, “Idea of the Church,” his stated aim is to analyze the idea of the Church proposed in the Apostles’ Creed, in which, “the Church is declared to be “the Communion of the Saints.” He writes: The conception of the Church as the communion of saints…
Showing page 231 of 309
Showing page 2 of 43
A friend, Bret Saunders, writes the following in response to my post summarizing Caputo’s account of the “postmodern turns”: “Caputo appears to have omitted the so-called ‘theological turn,’ such as is found in J.-L. Marion and J.-F. Courtine. Of course, this is because Caputo continues to deny that Marion’s work…
Pountain and Robins comment that Cool “is in the process of becoming the dominant type of relation between people in Western societies, a new secular virtue. No-one wants to be good any more, they want to be Cool.”
In their book Cool Rules: Anatomy of an Attitude , Dick Pountain and David Robins define Cool as “an oppositional attitude adopted by individuals or small groups to express defiance to authority - whether that of the parent, the teacher, the police, the boss or the prison warden.” More pithily,…
Over at the De Regno Christi web site (http://deregnochristi.org), we’re starting a discussion of the Federal Vision today. Participants include Doug Wilson, Richard Lints, John Muether, Daryl Hart, and me.
INTRODUCTION According to many translations, Jesus instructs His disciples, “do not resist him who is evil” (Matthew 5:39, NASB). This is mistaken. What Jesus says is “do not resist by evil means.” Jesus resisted evil, but He resisted evil by doing good. He calls us to the same kind of…
Reviewing Joseph Roach’s It in the TLS (September 7), Michael Caines cleverly sums Roach’s history with: “Now it is celebrities who have two bodies: the body natural and the body cinematic.” At the same time, he faults Roach for giving “relatively little attention to the techniques by which performers and…
Showing page 1628 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
