Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
My first title for this series of posts was “Evangelical Sacramental Ecumenism” – not exactly a clickbait title. But those three words, evangelical, sacramental, and ecumenical, say a lot: The centrality of the gospel; a focus on baptism, bread, and wine; and the quest for visible unity among diverse churches.…
I can imagine someone reading the title of this essay and saying to himself, "I have two questions. First, what in the world is “contextualization”?" Second, even before hearing the answer to the first question, he may wonder, "what does baptism have to do with such an awkward and vague…
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 My colleague Ralph Smith has recently written on this passage, here . I entirely agree with Ralph's thrust, which is typological, that the passage is ultimately aimed at the entire nation of Israel itself as the rebellious son. But what I am thinking is from another perspective, perhaps…
In the previous article in this series, I drew attention to the threefold meaning of the Spirit of God descending as a dove on Jesus at His baptism. On a related note, I also argued that 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and Titus 3:3-7 were parallel passages that addressed the same issues…
The National Anthem protest is misguided. So too the conservative backlash. The Church’s response has been disappointing. I address each in turn. The greatest triumph of the American Civil Rights Movement was its seizing of the moral high ground in American politics. It did so by insisting only on those…
Peter Leithart’s book, The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism , argues that baptism is parallel to and the fulfillment of the old covenant rite of priestly ordination. But this is not something explicitly stated in the New Testament. Why, then, should we believe it? Leithart shows in…
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“Do not lay up treasures for yourselves upon earth, where moth and rust destroy,” Jesus commanded (Matthew 6:19). Just before, He has been warning about practicing righteousness before men (6:1), in alms, prayer and fasting. The chapter ends with an exhortation to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (v.…
Leland Ryken taught English at Wheaton College for and astounding 45 years, and he is sharing the fruits of that long tenure in a Crossway series, Christian Guides to the Classics. So far Ryken has written on Homer’s The Odyssey , Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter , and Milton’s Paradise Lost…
When the seventh trumpet sounds, the heavenly temple of God is opened and the ark appears. Lightning, thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm accompany the revelation of the Lord’s throne (11:19). This verse opens a section of several chapters that deal with the Satanic attack on the church, persecution…
George Weigel always gives a good pep talk, and not only to Catholics. He’s a can-do Catholic. Weigel does it again in Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st-Century Church . The Counter-Reformation church is dead, and the “Presentitis” of some post-Vatican II Catholicism is a dead end. Weigel attacks…
My review of Philip Jenkins’s challenging Laying Down the Sword: Why We Can’t Ignore the Bible’s Violent Verses is up at the Comment magazine web site.
Jonathan V. Last ( What to Expect When No One’s Expecting: America’s Coming Demographic Disaster ) has a modest proposal for fixing social security: “Since the 1980s, policy wonks have been telling us that our social welfare programs are about to implode. The system is not sustainable! Either benefits or…
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