Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
While I think Zacharias Ursinus’ thinking would be profitable to consider, I am not recording his reflections in order for readers to come to agreement with his position as a whole. Rather, my interest is twofold. First, I think the way the Heidelberg Catechisms is used as a “proof” of…
On this question Hebrews 10 is quite clear and really needs no additional argument. For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume…
Not all readers of this essay letter may be aware of it, but a tempest has been brewing in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), a tempest created by the liberal party in that denomination. It came about this way. In January 2002, a Pastor’s Conference on covenant theology was…
Once upon a time there was such a thing as Calvinistic thought. It existed when I was younger, but seems to have largely disappeared in recent years. But let me elaborate. When I became a Calvinist, back in 1970, I bought a bunch of books. Over the next few years,…
CHRIST THE PREACHER How Ephesians Shows Us Why Preaching is Essential to Salvation & Sanctification Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a…
Tracking the informal shifts in Protestant opinion regarding Baptism can be a difficult business. For example, in 1849 Anglican clergyman William Goode published his defense of Evangelicalism against the Anglo-Catholics under the title, The Doctrine of the Church of England as to the Effects of Baptism in the Case of…
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Isaiah 66:3-17 is organized in a modified chiasm: A. Fourfold abominations, 3 (“blood of swine”). B. Punishment of enemies, 4-6 (begins with “hear the word of Yahweh”). C. Zion gives birth, 7-9 (“says your God” at end). D. Jerusalem’s joy, 10-11. E. Peace like a river, 12a (begins with “thus…
In an essay in a recent issue of Pro Ecclesia , Bruce Marshall observes that traditional Christological formulas no longer do the work they were designed to do in Hegelianized contemporary Trinitarian theology. Two sets of Christological distinctions are relevant. On the one hand, there is the creedal distinction between…
In an appreciative response to Bruce Marshall’s piece on Hegelian Trinitarian theology, Paul Molnar questions whether, as Marshall argues, we cannot affirm that the Son is abandoned by the Father without concluding that the Son has ceased to be God. Molnar writes, “The Father and Spirit remained one in being…
My head started spinning only a few pages into Andrew Dean Swafford’s Nature and Grace . He offered initial support for maintaining a distinction of nature and grace by appealing to 1 Corinthians 2:9 and arguing that the “original creation is surpassed by man’s new creation in Christ” (4). To…
We hear much talk of “cruciformity” these days: Christians participate in the suffering and death of Christ, not only imitating Jesus in taking up His cross, but sharing in His death. Cruciformity is true, but only a partial truth. Consider Jesus: He didn’t get to the cross until the end,…
Building on the work of David Kahneman ( Thinking, Fast and Slow ), and Cass Sustein ( Nudge ), and others, Max Bazerman of Harvard Business School discusses The Power of Noticing in a forthcoming book. He starts with the Youtube video that we’ve all seen: You’re asked to count…
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