Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In the first post of this series, I proposed that the sacraments of baptism and communion are the nexus point for the evangelical and ecumenical movements. In the following post , I proposed a new orientation for ecumenism – a conciliarity of the cross – with the necessary confession of…
“Contextualization” is now, and has been for a long time, the buzzword for the day. 1 Missionary effort in non-Western countries is all about “contextualization” — making our communication of the Gospel, if not the Gospel itself, fit into the culture to whom we from the West speak. 2 There…
In my previous post , I highlighted the sacraments as the point of convergence between evangelicalism and ecumenism arguing that baptism and communion are presented in the New Testament as signs of the gospel that simultaneously enact and remember union with Christ and the unity of Christ’s body. I concluded…
Click HERE for Part I of this series. What does baptism have to do with culture? As I said in the previous essay, the short answer is “everything!” To begin with, baptism is baptism into Jesus’ death (Romans 6:3). Paul explains this as the crucifixion of the “old man” (“old…
In the accounts of our Lord’s nativity and early childhood, so familiar to us from many years of Advent and Christmas services, we often fail to recognize in them the gentle intimations of a greater nativity that is yet to come. The attentive ear, however, can discover in these passages…
Isaiah warns that Yahweh is coming to remove Judah’s leaders in every area of social, economic and political life so completely that there will be no one left to lead besides children (3:4) and women (v. 12). As Isaiah goes on, however, it becomes clear that the women of Judah…
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In her comparative study of Julian the Apostate and Gregory Nazianzus ( Sons of Hellenism, Fathers of the Church ), Susanna Elm devotes a long chapter to Gregory's Oration 2, which is concerned with the philosopher's practice of soul care. It is not an easy task: “As difficult as it…
Chesterton is nothing if not an enthusiast, and he is nothing if not enthusiastic about Bottom the Weaver, one of the “mechanicals” of A M idsummer Night's Dream . “It is difficult to approach critically so great a figure as that of Bottom the Weaver. He is greater and more…
By the Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves, the US Congress decided that no more slaves were to be imported to the United States. The law passed in 1807 and went into effect in 1808. The slave trade to the Americas did not end. As Stephen Chambers notes in his…
What does it mean to say God is jealous (Heb. qanna' )? In a recent JBL piece, Nissim Amzallag points out that it is intimately linked to Yahweh's fieriness (cf. Psalm 79:5; Ezekiel 38:19) and to “furnace remelting.” If there is a hint of volcanic power in the Old Testament…
Patrick Clark's Perfection in Death is a study of Thomas's treatment of the virtue of courage, especially as expressed in martyrdom, against the background of ancient treatments of the same subject - from Homer to Socrates to Aristotle. He poses the dilemma on the first page: “If acts of virtue…
Discontent is one of life's most corrosive vices. When we wish we lived then , when we want our life to be taking place over there , we take no joy in what's here and the now. We cannot enjoy the present without receiving it, and we cannot receive it…
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