Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Leo the Great's second sermon on the Ascension, Sermon 74 . I. The mystery of our salvation, dearly-beloved, which the Creator of the universe valued at the price of His blood, has now been carried out under conditions of humiliation from the day of His bodily birth to the end…
Life, Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy says, is suffering, battle, pain, shock, failure, elation. Human beings are always torn, always riven. Much of human life, individually and collectively, is an effort to deal with suffering and death. By being the first Man, Jesus establishes the possibility of a different stance toward suffering and…
Is Christian baptism given to believers only or to believers and their children? That’s the question that must be answered—but only if you’re Baptist or Presbyterian. That’s how the question is framed between these two denominations in this dispute, and it’s along these lines the debate unfolds as each side…
Again and again the liturgy of St Chrysostom calls God a lover of mankind. He is Philanthropolos Theos (man-loving God), Kurios Philanthropolos (man-loving Lord), Philopsychos (lover of the soul). Philanthropy wasn’t a Christian invention. Roman benefactors gave benefits to subordinates. What was new was the shape of philanthropy, for the…
Perhaps the most fearful of all possibilities in the world is the possibility of betrayal on the part of someone who is in a “position of trust.” This, unfortunately, is the first block in what ought to be the foundation of every marriage in the world. Every woman has a…
It seems that denominationalism has had its day. A 2009 Barna survey found that denominational commitments have gone squishy in mainline Protestant churches, and Evangelicals don’t fare much better than the rest. After a similar survey, Ron Sellers of Ellison Research said that Protestants are as “loyal to their denominations…
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Denominationalism encourages a stance of irony (insincerity, Charles Morrison called it in his 1953 The Unfinished Reformation , 46). We must think our denominational “distinctives” are important, or we wouldn't be in the denomination. We are willing to use identifying language and markers to associate ourselves with those distinctives–church names,…
Peggy Noonan argues in a recent column that “Rules on immigration and refugees are made by safe people. These are the people who help run countries, who have nice homes in nice neighborhoods and are protected by their status.” On the other hand, “those who live with the effects of…
In his recent Paul & the Gift , John Barclay arrestingly translates the Greek phrase to euaggelion tes akrobustias (Galatians 2:7) as “the good news of the foreskin.” He elaborates, “Modern Gentile readers, who have never been socialized to consider the foreskin a sign of inferior otherness or repulsive disgrace,…
At the heart of John Barclay's treatment of Paul & the Gift is the claim that Paul “perfects” the incongruity of grace. The grace-gift of Jesus is not a reward to the worthy; it is not a gift to those who will make use of the gift. It is a…
“To be ‘righteous,” writes John Barclay ( Paul & the Gift ), “does not mean to be ‘saved.'” Rather, the “righteous” person is one who is “worthy of the divine gift of salvation” (377). God gives gifts to those who are worthy of them. The “righteous” are worthy. God gives…
In a recent sermon, Pastor Jimmy Gill of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, pointed to the chiastic structure of Malachi 1:6-14, neatly marked by a sevenfold repetition of the phrase “says Yahweh of hosts.” A. Priests dishonor Yahweh their Father, 1:6a B. Blemished offerings on my altar, 1:6b-8 C. Will God…
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