Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
This was a newspaper column that I wrote for the Minco Millennium back in January of 2000 when I had first moved to Minco, Oklahoma to pastor First Reformed Presbyterian Church. I wasn’t able to catch the recent performance of the musical, Godspell , in Oklahoma City. However, my dad…
Awhile back, there was a big debate among Evangelicals as to whether one had to trust Jesus “as Lord” as well as “as savior. Some claimed that one could be saved by Jesus through a faith that did not involve submission to him as Lord. Others claimed that one must…
I originally wrote this a few weeks ago in April 2002 as a column in the local newspaper, The Minco Millennium under the title “Faith & Follow-Through.” Several passages in the book of Hebrews are difficult for Protestants to swallow. The author affirms the once-and-for-all work of Christ and yet…
N. T. Wright’s commentary on Romans is destined to be a classic. The introduction alone is worth the hefty price of the book — but the exegesis itself is, well, priceless. I will not attempt a full review — these are just miscellaneous thoughts and random reflections — but I…
At an inn in the town of Lystra three men sat around a corner table. All three were well-known disciples of Joshua Messiah, members of what the town called a new cult, the Way. The short gray-haired man with the enormous beard was clearly restless. “This is taking too long,”…
Recently there has been some surprising debate in some circles over where Paul summarizes his Gospel. I say “surprising” because many Evangelical Bible scholars have held, for quite some time, that Paul’s Gospel is encapsulated in Romans chapter 1, verse 3 and 4. Here is the passage in context: Paul,…
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Russ McDonald has this shrewd comment about the combination of slapstick comedy and satisfied resolution in MSND : “Even as we anticipate a happy ending, we take pleasure in watching shenanigans, pretension, and the well-aimed custard pie. This tension amounts to a contest between the end and the middle: The…
Marjorie Garber on Midsummer Night?s Dream . 1) She begins by explaining the various connections between MSND and Romeo & Juliet , suggesting that MSND is a comic version of R&J . In both, an authority figure stands between the lovers; in both they seek satisfaction by escape; in both,…
Marjorie Garber on Midsummer Night?s Dream . 1) She begins by explaining the various connections between MSND and Romeo & Juliet , suggesting that MSND is a comic version of R&J . In both, an authority figure stands between the lovers; in both they seek satisfaction by escape; in both,…
Leave it to Barth to cut through a lot of confusion and clarify the theological necessity for an eschatological conception of salvation: “The New Testament speaks eschatologically when it speaks of man’s being called, reconciled, justified, sanctified and redeemed. In speaking thus it speaks really and properly. One has to…
Now in the 18th year to king Yarav?am, son of Nebat Reigned-as-king ?Aviyyam over Yehudah. Three years he reigned-as-king in Yerushalaim Now the name of his mother [was] Ma?akah daughter of Aviyshalom. And he walked in all the sins of his father which he did before him. But his heart…
INTRODUCTION Judah?s beginning is no better than Israel?s, but for David?s sake Yahweh keeps a light lit in Jerusalem (15:4) and sends a reforming king to turn back the evils of Rehoboam. Meanwhile, Israel dissolves into political chaos, and becomes a veritable Africa of revolving door regimes, conspiracy, and assassination.…
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