Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
For years I have read little posts by fresh new Papal converts that assert that Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, etc., believed in the perpetual virginity of Mary. So did Turretin. Setting aside the question of whether these men believed that this notion was important or not — and Calvin, at least,…
The previous discussion led to several points that I’d like to take up in like to take up in more detail. For the sake of discussion, I’ll number them for ease of consideration. 1. Typological “evidences” for Mary as perpetual virgin, queen of heaven, etc. etc. I assert here that…
BMEV, or “Blessed Mary Ever-Virgin,” should not be an issue for any Protestant today, but clamor from various quarters means that we need once again to “get real” with the Biblical data here. Herewith is a reworking of a recent essay on the subject originally published in Biblical Horizons. Early…
When I hear from time to time of some young evangelical Presbyterian going into Roman Catholicism, I ask myself, “Why bother? You’re already in a church pretty much like what the Reformers rejected.” In the Medieval church, the congregation did little but watch while the priest and choir did everything.…
The “New Perspective” sheds light on what the New Testament means by the “mystery” of God. The mystery theme is quite pervasive in the apostolic writings, and shows up across genre lines, in the gospels, the epistles, and Revelation. One could even make a solid case that the revelation of…
THIS should be a link to the Sanctus I put together for use at the Biblical Horizons Conferences. Some churches have been using it also.
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What is Paul trying to prove in Romans 1:18-3:20? Here are a few, non-exhaustive, suggestions: 1) He is trying to close “every mouth” and demonstrate that “all the world” is “accountable to God,” and guilty before Him. It is sometimes said in recent Pauline scholarship that this is not a…
This morning, NPR had a report on “Celebrants USA,” an organization of “Professional celebrants” that designs and officiates at ceremonies of all kinds. The report was about ceremonies of “downsizing,” held when someone loses his or her job because of cuts in the size of a company’s workforce. Celebrants USA’s…
A potpourri of interesting reviews in Books & Culture : 1) Gerald McDermott reviews several recent evangelical books on Christianity’s relation to non-Christian religions. He is critical of attempts (Paul Heim, e.g.) to root a pluralist or inclusivist view of other religions in the doctrine of the Trinity, and also…
At a number of points in his book, Dollimore explores the “eroticization” of death, the tendency of Western writers (and visual artists) not only to describe death as a desirable erasure of desire (or desirable for some other reason) but also to describe death in quasi-erotic terms. This is seen…
Dollimore has some thoughtful things to say about postmodernism, especially in relation to Lacan: “what I find in Lacan is an overtheorized expression of something more significantly and relevantly expressed elsewhere (in Freud and before).” (He cites specifically Schopenhauer and Montaigne.) “In this respect I believe he is symptomatic of…
A somewhat more expanded treatment of the chiasm of Luke 3-7. Jesus’ baptism and temptation still don’t fit well, but the rest hangs together pretty nicely. Some comments are appended below. A. John the Baptist’s ministry, 3:1-20 B. Jesus’ baptism, genealogy, temptation, 3:21-4:13 C. Jesus at Nazareth, 4:14-30 Isaiah 61…
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