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 a 2006 Pro Ecclesia review of Lamin Sanneh's Whose Religion Is Christianity? Emmanuel Katongole claims that Sanneh continues to allow geopolitical concerns to shape his understanding of African Christianity: “although Sanneh reads the growth of Christianity in Africa as a blessing to the West, he still shares the same…
The word “spring” (Gr. pege ) is used five times in the book of Revelation. Each time, it is linked with the word “water” (Gr. hudor ), but with slight variations. Twice the phrase is “spring(s) of the water of life” (7:17; 21:6, where the word is singular), and three…
W ith everyone abuzz with the latest Pew findings, one can hardly wait for the publication later this year of Robert Wuthnow's Inventing American Religion . Polls haven't always, of course, played so prominent a role in our understanding of American religion as they do today. They have not always…
In his contribution to Three Faiths, One God , Jacob Neusner explains that the Mishnah answered the question, With no temple, is Israel still holy? The Mishnah's answer was Yes, but then it had to explain how it was so: “Israel indeed is holy, and so far as the media…
Much of Revelation is overtly structured by sequences of seven. Even when the seven sections are not enumerated, heptamerous structuring devices are prominent. It's there in Revelation 12-15, for instance. The section is enclosed by references to the opening of the heavenly temple (11:19; 15:6), and within that frame there…
David Chilton points out ( Days of Vengeance , 359-60), this central section itself has an intriguing structural significance, linking to the scene of the Lamb in heaven (5:6-11): Revelation 5 Revelation 14 I saw a Lamb standing (v. 6) I looked, and behold, a Lamb was standing (v. 1)…
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