Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
This was a newspaper column that I wrote for the Minco Millennium back in January of 2000 when I had first moved to Minco, Oklahoma to pastor First Reformed Presbyterian Church. I wasn’t able to catch the recent performance of the musical, Godspell , in Oklahoma City. However, my dad…
Awhile back, there was a big debate among Evangelicals as to whether one had to trust Jesus “as Lord” as well as “as savior. Some claimed that one could be saved by Jesus through a faith that did not involve submission to him as Lord. Others claimed that one must…
I originally wrote this a few weeks ago in April 2002 as a column in the local newspaper, The Minco Millennium under the title “Faith & Follow-Through.” Several passages in the book of Hebrews are difficult for Protestants to swallow. The author affirms the once-and-for-all work of Christ and yet…
N. T. Wright’s commentary on Romans is destined to be a classic. The introduction alone is worth the hefty price of the book — but the exegesis itself is, well, priceless. I will not attempt a full review — these are just miscellaneous thoughts and random reflections — but I…
At an inn in the town of Lystra three men sat around a corner table. All three were well-known disciples of Joshua Messiah, members of what the town called a new cult, the Way. The short gray-haired man with the enormous beard was clearly restless. “This is taking too long,”…
Recently there has been some surprising debate in some circles over where Paul summarizes his Gospel. I say “surprising” because many Evangelical Bible scholars have held, for quite some time, that Paul’s Gospel is encapsulated in Romans chapter 1, verse 3 and 4. Here is the passage in context: Paul,…
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The Hebrew word “half” ( chetziy ) is used over 120 times in the Old Testament. Nearly half of the uses are in two books, Exodus (20x) and Joshua (29x). The word is used another 14x in Chronicles, and 13 more in Nehemiah. In Exodus, it is mostly used in…
I explore the significance of Paul’s description of Judaizers as “troublers” at the Trinity House site .
In Comment , Jonathan Chaplin helpfully defines the decision to be made in Scotland’s referendum next week. To clarify what’s being decided, Chaplin distinguishes between “nation” and “state.” “Nations are thickly-textured, evolving, porous, morally ambiguous societal amalgams. While one nation may be more or less recognisable when set against another,…
The Atlantic is running a series of essays on Coen Brothers’ films (are they Brothers, or just brothers?), written by Christopher Orr, who is re-watching the brothers’ feature films and sharing his notes. Orr gets Hudsucker wrong , but still, it’s a worthy effort. Orr’s series took me back to…
Like most of the lists in Deuteronomy, the list describing Yahweh’s power in 11:2-7 is carefully patterned. The direct description of Yahweh’s power is constructed by fives and sevens (vv. 2-3). There are five terms: greatness, mighty hand, outstretched are, signs, works. Five represents military power, and also human power…
Stephen R. Holmes argues in his contribution to Two Views of the Doctrine of the Trinity that “the doctrine of the Trinity is not primarily an ontology, nor does it depend on a particular ontology,” though Holmes admits that it does imply a “modest” set of ontological commitments (35). The…
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