Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
First John 5.16-17: If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life–to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for…
A few years back I read Lesslie Newbigin’s little book Truth and Authority in Modernity . 1 I was particularly impressed with his argument in chapter 2 “The Mediation of Divine Authority.” Now, maybe this is old hat to many of you, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard it…
Baptism is not Christian circumcision. There’s a lot of loose talk to that effect in Presbyterian circles; but it’s not accurate. The old world rite of circumcision was fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Baptism unites us to Christ and therefore makes us participate in the circumcision of…
In recent years I’ve observed a number of Reformed-type churches trying to institute corporate handraising in certain sung parts of worship. This often does not seem to work very well. Some people don’t do it. Some do it half-way. Some do it with one hand. Some dramatically stretch to the…
Most modern scholars recognize that behind Arius’s campaign to differentiate Jesus from God was the Hellenistic theological conviction that the high God cannot suffer. Rowan Williams argues that Arius had the right idea about divine suffering, but the wrong idea of God, which “puts the unavoidable question of what the…
Charismatics have been much maligned for constantly “praising the Lord.” They would say if you hit your finger with a hammer, you should instantly say, “Thank you Jesus that You let me hit my finger…” This of course, as we all know, is stupid. There was once a lady who…
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The following was delivered as a "Solemn Charge and Exhortation" at the beginning of Epiphany Term 2022 . We at Theopolis aspire to form leaders who share and carry out a biblically-rooted vision for reformation in the city of God and renewal in the city of man. We hope to…
Angels were certainly not unknown to Israel, and the entire history of Israel occurred under angelic oversight. But nowhere in the Bible is there a cluster of angelic appearances like we find at the beginning of the gospel story. An angel appears to Joseph to tell him to take Mary…
This article was first published at Firstthings.com on December 4, 2015 . The Gospels obviously tell the life story of a human being. Jesus was born. He lived in subjection to his parents, grew up, learned a trade, made friends and enemies, walked the dusty roads of Judea, climbed mountains,…
What are the general ontological foundations of the incarnation? asks Sergius Bulgakov in a dense paragraph of The Lamb of God (171-2). “In what does the inexorable predeterminedness of the Incarnation consist?” Negatively, he writes, it’s “erroneous to limit the theology of the incarnation to soteriology.” The incarnation isn’t merely…
I wrote the following essay some time back for some website or other. When I went searching for it recently, I discovered it was hard to find, so I'm re-posting it here, with very minor changes, to make it more readily available . The recent Evangelical brawl about the Trinity…
Consider: 1. The Spirit is the Passion of God, the center of His emotional life. His Spirit arouses judges to battle frenzy. In the Spirit, Yahweh regrets creating the world (Genesis 6:3, 6). Yahweh’s soul delights in His Servant (Isaiah 42:1) and rejoices over Israel (Jeremiah 32:41). Yahweh pours out…
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