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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In a 2001 Modern Theology article, Matthew Boulton points to the theme of gratitude in Barth’s theology. Gratitude is for Barth the “one but necessary thing which is proper to and is required of him with whom God has graciously entered into covenant.” It is the “genuine being of man,”…
2 Kings 15:19-20: Pul, king of Assyria, came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver so that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his rule. Then Menahem exacted the money from Israel, even from all the mighty men of wealth,…
Romans 6: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? . . . our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves…
What is the cross? For Matthew, the cross is the climax of the history of Israel as that history is relived by Jesus. Matthew presents Jesus as the teacher of Israel, and accordingly his gospel is organized around five large sections of teaching: the sermon on the mountain, Jesus’ instructions…
Thanks to David Mills of Touchstone for passing this along, a news release from Westminster/John Knox: Taking on the most divisive issue in the church today the former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Jack Rogers, argues unequivocally for the ordination and marriage of people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual,…
Thomas, that bogeyman of open theists, he of the absolute, changeless, impassible, atemporal, impersonal deity - that Thomas says (a point picked up by Edwards) “it pertains to the idea of goodness to communicate itself to others.” Hence, if God is good He is necessarily self-giving; He is not the…
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