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,…
Showing page 228 of 309
Showing page 41 of 43
Ezekiel says that Yahweh deals with Judah so that Judah will know that He is Lord. When there are bodies scattered on the high places, then Israel will know that Yahweh is Lord (Ezekiel 6:13-14). When Judah is devastated and the Lord shows no pity, then Judah will know that…
My wish list for Catholics is terribly old-fashioned and terribly assertive. There’s hardly space here to defend my positions or thoroughly critique the Catholic position. So, this may end up sounding like a drive-by shooting or a childish tantrum. I trust that I can formulate my wish list with enough…
Aren Wilson-Wright examines the elements of “Northwest Semitic combat myth” in the theme verses of the Song of Songs (8:6b-7a). I have my doubts about the presence of the combat myth, but even within a strictly biblical frame, his observations illuminate the text. He points out, for instance, that 8:6b…
Stephen Turley ends The Ritualized Revelation of the Messianic Age by elaborating the point made in his title: “for early Pauline communities, rituals and beliefs were in fact irreducible to one another. As such, our ritual reading of Paul provides an exegetical corrective to the traditional relation posited between theology…
Tyler Atkinson uses Bonaventure and Luther as his primary interlocutors in his study of the “work ethic” of Ecclesiastes, Singing at the Winepress . The two giants offer quite divergent readings of the book. For Bonaventure, the vanity of the world encourages withdrawal; for Luther, though, the goal is to…
In his contribution to Reformation Readings of Paul , David C. Fink argues that Luther's doctrine of justification was an effort to “grapple with the great commandment” to love God (45). Luther vehemently rejected the medieval notion that faith as the material cause had to be formed by love as…
Showing page 357 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
