Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Rounding Out the Traditional Doctrine of Justification Justification and the Church The traditional Protestant doctrine of justification fails to fully hold together the soteriological (forgiveness of sins) and the ecclesiological (covenant membership). This is part of a larger problem, of course, namely, the dichotomizing of church and salvation. Biblically and…
John Piper’s book, Counted Righteous in Christ: Should We Abandon the Imputation of Christ’s Righteousness (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2002) is, from any perspective, a passionate work. Nevertheless, I find I need to disagree with parts of it. The reason I do this is not because John Piper’s book does…
What follows is a handout for a Sunday School class I have taught recently at my church . Presbyterian doctrine teaches what the Bible says about God sovereign control over history and his unconditional choice (election) to bring some people to everlasting glory while allowing others to remain in unbelief…
“Covenantal Nomism” sounds like a description of tiny contract-loving creatures who live underground. But it is actually a recent term used to describe the pattern of religious belief and practice in first-century Palestinian Judaism. The idea is that God graciously establishes a structured relationship based on promises, a “covenant,” with…
What follows deals primarily with two essays, one by Dr. Douglas Kelly and the other by The Rev. Richard Phillips . My reason for writing this essay is that many people are confidently saying things about N. T. Wright that I believe are contrary to fact. I choose Dr. Kelly…
The Bible is often treated as a book of rules with directions for living. To some extent, that is true; but it is neither the whole truth nor the most important truth about the book. Ultimately, the Bible is a story about God and man and their reconciliation in Christ.…
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Should Protestants have excluded Catholics from the Lord’s table? James B. Jordan thinks not , and also tells some tales from the front of Reformational Catholicism.
Doctrinal differences between Catholics and Protestants look permanent and intractable. It looks as if one or the other must simply win the struggle. But doctrinal impasses aren’t resolved by a death-battle between current options. They’re resolved by fresh formulations that synthesize existing concerns, break new ground, solve some difficulties and…
Christopher Caldwell offers this concise analysis of the fateful conversation between Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling and V. Stiviano: It is “pathetic intimate quarrel between Mr Sterling and a 31-year-old woman, V Stiviano. Something is upsetting Mr Sterling very much, but it is not black people – at least not primarily.…
Paul, writes Theodore Jennings in Outlaw Justice , “is concerned with the most basic issues of political thinking, law and justice” (3). Translations, though, often obscure this interest, minimizing the political dimensions of Paul’s vocabulary and arguments by turning his letters into “religious” teaching, teaching concerned primarily with the salvation…
The challenge of the Middle East peace process is the problem of the disparity of power. Andrew Bacevich writes , “Between Israelis and Palestinians, the disparity of power looms large and not by accident. Even before founding their state, Zionists were intent on acquiring a surplus of power. By means…
Reader David Gornoski writes: I had a lot of fun with the social construct theory professors. I say, Yes, Language does construct reality. “In the beginning was the Word.” God spoke and now we exist. And yes, reality is socially constructed. A society in one being, the Trinity created it.…
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