Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
My first title for this series of posts was “Evangelical Sacramental Ecumenism” – not exactly a clickbait title. But those three words, evangelical, sacramental, and ecumenical, say a lot: The centrality of the gospel; a focus on baptism, bread, and wine; and the quest for visible unity among diverse churches.…
I can imagine someone reading the title of this essay and saying to himself, "I have two questions. First, what in the world is “contextualization”?" Second, even before hearing the answer to the first question, he may wonder, "what does baptism have to do with such an awkward and vague…
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 My colleague Ralph Smith has recently written on this passage, here . I entirely agree with Ralph's thrust, which is typological, that the passage is ultimately aimed at the entire nation of Israel itself as the rebellious son. But what I am thinking is from another perspective, perhaps…
In the previous article in this series, I drew attention to the threefold meaning of the Spirit of God descending as a dove on Jesus at His baptism. On a related note, I also argued that 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and Titus 3:3-7 were parallel passages that addressed the same issues…
The National Anthem protest is misguided. So too the conservative backlash. The Church’s response has been disappointing. I address each in turn. The greatest triumph of the American Civil Rights Movement was its seizing of the moral high ground in American politics. It did so by insisting only on those…
Peter Leithart’s book, The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism , argues that baptism is parallel to and the fulfillment of the old covenant rite of priestly ordination. But this is not something explicitly stated in the New Testament. Why, then, should we believe it? Leithart shows in…
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One Body Through the Cross , the Princeton Proposal for Christianity Unity, criticizes the ecumenical movement for “liberal indifference” to orthodoxy, which has sometimes provoked a reaction of “divisive sectarianism.” For some, the solution is to stress traditional doctrinal formulations, but this cure is part of the disease. As Margaret…
The Princeton Proposal for Christian Unity ( One Body Through the Cross ) works within two “poles”: On the one hand, there is an already-established unity, “a bond of faith and communion in Christ, established by the action of God.” On the other hand, we are called to “a deeper…
The Princeton Proposal on Christian Unity ( In One Body Through the Cross ) claims that “division breeds never-ending diversion from authentic mission” (section 35), and offers a shrewd diagnosis of how this occurs. It happens when “the distinct identities of our churches tempt us to relish the special marks…
In his Unitive Protestantism , John T. McNeill sketches the “communio” ecclesiology of the Reformers: “They interpreted the creedal tenet of ‘the Holy Catholic Church’ in terms of the communio sanctorum , and identified the latter both with the invisible communion of the saved and with the true visible church…
Jeremiah 35 introduces the Rechabites. This is a clan within Israel that had refrained from wine, lived in tents, and refused to sow seed or plant vineyards for generations. The sole basis for this abstinence from normal life was the command of Jonadab the son of Rechab who commanded “You…
One of the delights of Philip Ball’s forthcoming Invisible is to see how frequently rationalists and materialists were have been taken in by charlatans. One might have thought that those who came-of-age and were Enlightened by reason would be immune to tricks, beliefs in ghosts, and in fairies and sprites.…
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