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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I’ve posted a paper by a student, Lisa Beyeler, that traces out connections between Jeremiah and Galatians. Click on “Downloads” at the top of the page, and you’ll find it.
Hart again: “a society is truly modern to the extent that it is post-Christian.” That is, “modernity is not simply a ‘postreligious’ condition; it is the state of a society that has been specifically a Christian society but has ‘lost the faith.’ The ethical presuppositions intrinsic to modernity, for instance,…
In his new book, Atheist Delusion s, David Bentley Hart calls attention to the role of the church in providing medical care during the middle ages: “in the diakoniai of Constantinople, for centures, many rich members of the laity labored to care for the poor and ill, bathing the sick,…
Chalmers Johnson ( Sorrows of American Empire , and author of Blowback ) describes the American empire as an “empire of military bases”: “As of September 2001, the Department of Defense acknowledged at least 725 American military bases existed outside the United States. Actually, there are many more, since some…
Ross Douthat writes, “If the Western leadership class survives the current crisis, after all, the lesson they’re going to draw from it is relatively simple: We must never let this happen again . And while that impulse could be a spur to greater decentralization and democratization, it’s more likely to…
Calvin refers to Constantine only a handful of times in the Institutes , mainly in connection with the Donation. At one point, though, he comments him for restraining the intemperance of fourth-century churchmen (4.9.10): “when the primary article of our faith was there in peril, and Arius, its enemy, was…
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