Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
A Brief Comparison of Calvin’s Institutes with the Westminster Confession and Catechisms regarding the shape of imputation This essay is a brief argument that the soteriology of John Calvin in his Institutes of the Christian Religion regarding union with Christ and the imputation of his righteousness is the same as…
The thoughts in this paper were largely prompted by a study of Walter E. Krebs, “The Word and the Sacraments,” Mercersburg Review (July, 1867), 366-383. The discussion in this paper presupposes my earlier studies of baptism, “Baptismal Efficacy and the Reformed Tradition: Past, Present, and Future” and “Calvin on Baptism,…
Sometimes our systematic theology creates an illusion of precision. For example, we distinguish the ground and instrument of justification. Justification is grounded in Christ’s work alone, and is instrumentally received by faith alone. That makes good sense and guards us from thinking that faith itself is somehow meritorious. All the…
Whenever we participate in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, we remember Christ and His Work for us. We remember. And in remembering, we imitate God, as His creatures made after His image. God remembers. This is mysterious to us because we usually think of remembering in the context of our…
It is standard in paedobaptist circles to argue for the baptism of infants out of the Old Covenant system. Because there is no explicit command in the New Testament, we are left to the broader principles and patterns of Scripture. In the Old Covenant, we continually find that the children…
Luther popularized the law/gospel hermeneutic. Luther argued that any demands God made upon us fell into the category of “law” and could only condemn. By contrast, anything God gave us was “gospel” and came with no strings attached. Calvin paid lip service to this law/gospel antithesis, even though it was…
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Based on 1 Kings 3:1-3, Solomon is often criticized by commentators for a) worshiping at high places and b) failing to get the temple, palace, and city wall completed in a timely fashion. I have defended Solomon’s worship at the high places on a couple of grounds: High places are…
Another wooden, overly literal translation. And it was the King Shlomoh [was] king over all Yisrael Now these the captains which [were] to him: Azaryahu, son of Zadoq the priest Eliychoref and Achiyah, sons of Shiysha, scribes. Yehoshaphat son of Achiylud the chronicler (“keeper of memories”) And Benayahu the son…
Glory Beyond the Kings of the Earth, 1 Kings 4-5 INTRODUCTION In 1 Kings 3, Solomon asked for and was given wisdom, and Yahweh also promised to give him glory and riches and a long life. In the following chapters, we see these promises fulfilled. Solomon demonstrates his wisdom by…
Barth argues in CD 1/1 that the generation of the Son is not only antecedent to and the eternal ground of the act of creation, but that it is a superior act of the Father. The Son’s generation points to “the bringing forth of God from God,” which is greater…
Oliver O’Donovan’s Just War Revisited (reviewed in the August 13 TLS ) presents just war as “a means of delivering judgment when all other means of judging a dispute have failed. Since war arises in the absence of an adequate formal authority to resolve a dispute, armed conflict can be…
That is, Bill Clinton’s My Life , which David Frum reviews in the Sept issue of Commentary . Frum offers the standard (and entirely correct) conservative complaints against Clinton, but commends his understated performance as ex-President. Frum ends on this remarkably hopeful note (especially coming from someone like Frum): “In…
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