Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
[This essay was originally published in 1988. Given the situation that our new national socialists are getting the world into, I thought it might be useful to reprint it here. – JBJordan] The Bible has quite a bit to say about gold, silver, and precious stones, and the Bible always…
I wrote this elsewhere and was encouraged to put it here. It is a comment on what a pastor is. Today, this is not very well understood, and God’s people suffer because of it. There are four professions: medicine, education, law, and religion. Each of these, when done at a…
James Jordan recently pointed out in private conversation how appropriate it is, in John’s Gospel, that Nicodemus is present both to ask Jesus about being born again, and to see Jesus re-enter the womb of the mother. Nicodemus rhetorically asks, “How can a man be born when he is old?…
This is a problematic and much discussed passage. I’ve been discussing it in another forum, and have decided to move it here and present some very preliminary observations about it. One large question is this: Who is the speaker here and what is his situation? Traditionally, the speaker is seen…
1. The current issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction includes a good fantasy novella by John C. Wright, who since his conversion has been writing Christianly. This is a fine fantasy with nods to C. S. Lewis and Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and probably Gene Wolfe as well.…
“It is an experience of our days that the spoken name of Jesus alone exercises an unforeseen power; and the effort which it cost to speak this name is perhaps connected to some faint apprehension of the power which is inherent within it. Wherever the name of Jesus Christ is…
Showing page 209 of 309
Showing page 5 of 43
John 5:30: ?I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.?E Jesus comes to do the Father?s will, and this means that the Father?s will…
This morning I want to address the students in the congregation ?Enot merely the college students but all other students we well. During the Christmas holidays, you will probably spend much more of your time at home than you have over the past few months. This could be a great…
Here’s a methodological oddity in some treatments of justification: On the one hand, justification is taken as a sum of the gospel. On the other hand, virtually the ONLY discussion of justification in the OT is philological ?Ethe meaning of the terms ?Eand often even this is limited to a…
Some additional notes on John 5, largely indebted to Gary Burge’s NIV Application commentary. It has been said that the synoptic gospels ?EMatthew, Mark, and Luke ?Eare essentially passion narratives with long introductions. That is not really a fair way to describe what goes on in the synoptics, and this…
In John 5, Jesus claims that His authority to pass judgment and His power and raise the dead both come from the Father. How are these two prerogatives related? Are they identical? Does Jesus give life and condemn to death in passing judgment? It seems that this is possible: 1)…
A few thoughts after listening to student presentations on feminist theology all morning. (I know, BTW, that there are all sorts and conditions of feminist theology.) 1) Rosemary Reuther says that Jesus’ maleness is an “accident,” on par with the accident of His Jewishness or the fact that he was…
Showing page 2028 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
