Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Misunderstanding “Galatianism” has caused several problems in the Reformed church. Because circumcision is at issue in the Galatian epistle, some have fallen into thinking that ritual per se, rather than anything uniquely Mosaic or Jewish, is the object of Paul’s critique. Likewise, his polemic against “works of the law” is…
Many texts in the NT become more perspicuous if we keep in mind the possibility — and indeed ubiquity — of Gentile God-fearers in the Old Covenant. After the special covenant with Israel is set up, Gentiles are not altogether excluded from the hope of salvation. Israel’s special status in…
I was once trying to get a sermon out of Ephesians 1.12-14 and it seemed obvious that I should look for two parallel statements both ending with the phrase, “to the praise of his glory.” Paul here begins talking about two groups of people (“you” and “we”), and he later…
WHY A DENOMINATION WITH SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN ROOTS SHOULD CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE “NEW PERSPECTIVE ON PAUL” In my denomination, the PCA, we are continually haunted by the sins of our racist Southern past. It has become an annual rite at General Assembly for the issue to be addressed one way or…
Recent debates over whether or not, “justification is central” to Paul’s theology have reminded me of a sermon I once heard by a Presbyterian seminary student. This African American student challenged his audience on the sin of racism and the ways it might manifest itself among us. Like any good…
In Charles Hodge’s 1853 article, “Idea of the Church,” his stated aim is to analyze the idea of the Church proposed in the Apostles’ Creed, in which, “the Church is declared to be “the Communion of the Saints.” He writes: The conception of the Church as the communion of saints…
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I don’t buy everything in Niebuhr’s The Irony of American History , especially his insistence that there is no power without guilt because no exercise of power is “transcendent over interest” (Can a gift be given? Same question). Still, the book is as relevant and important now, perhaps more so,…
A central thesis of Raymond van Dam’s The Roman Revolution of Constantine is that Constantine was obsessed with the issue of succession, and that religious concerns were subordinate to the need for a smooth transition of power. That thesis is, I think, overstated, but van Dam’s book has many virtues…
Naomi’s daughter-in-law, Ruth, is better than seven sons to Naomi (4:15). To underscore this, the book calls Ruth “daughter-in-law” seven times (1:6, 7, 8, 22; 2:20, 22; 4:15). She is the sevenfold daughter, the daughter who brings new life and new creation to Naomi, a new life that her sons…
Psalm 75:7-8: But God is the Judge: He puts down one, and exalts another. For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is fully mixed, and He pours it out; surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth drain…
Worship is an ascension. It always has been. Man’s first sanctuary, the Garden of Eden, was on a high place; Abraham took Isaac to Mount Moriah to offer him to the Lord; when Israel gathered to that same mountain on feast days, they climbed toward the temple singing Psalms of…
This is taken from Leo I, Sermons 73-74. I have cut some sentences and paragraphs, smoothed out the translation at some points, and added a few phrases and sentences to clarify Leo’s thought. During the time between the Lord’s Resurrection and Ascension, God had one aim in view: To teach…
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