Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Misunderstanding “Galatianism” has caused several problems in the Reformed church. Because circumcision is at issue in the Galatian epistle, some have fallen into thinking that ritual per se, rather than anything uniquely Mosaic or Jewish, is the object of Paul’s critique. Likewise, his polemic against “works of the law” is…
Many texts in the NT become more perspicuous if we keep in mind the possibility — and indeed ubiquity — of Gentile God-fearers in the Old Covenant. After the special covenant with Israel is set up, Gentiles are not altogether excluded from the hope of salvation. Israel’s special status in…
I was once trying to get a sermon out of Ephesians 1.12-14 and it seemed obvious that I should look for two parallel statements both ending with the phrase, “to the praise of his glory.” Paul here begins talking about two groups of people (“you” and “we”), and he later…
WHY A DENOMINATION WITH SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN ROOTS SHOULD CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE “NEW PERSPECTIVE ON PAUL” In my denomination, the PCA, we are continually haunted by the sins of our racist Southern past. It has become an annual rite at General Assembly for the issue to be addressed one way or…
Recent debates over whether or not, “justification is central” to Paul’s theology have reminded me of a sermon I once heard by a Presbyterian seminary student. This African American student challenged his audience on the sin of racism and the ways it might manifest itself among us. Like any good…
In Charles Hodge’s 1853 article, “Idea of the Church,” his stated aim is to analyze the idea of the Church proposed in the Apostles’ Creed, in which, “the Church is declared to be “the Communion of the Saints.” He writes: The conception of the Church as the communion of saints…
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INTRODUCTION Once Jesus has cleared out the buyers and sellers in the temple, he turns the temple into a house of teaching (19:47-48). Furious at his attacks on them and the provocative action in the temple, and envious of the crowds, the chief priests, scribes, and other leaders look for…
If the disciples are silenced, Jesus says in answer to the Pharisees who demand that they stop hailing Him as king, then these very stones will cry out. He is on His way into Jerusalem, and the stones are the same stones that will someday be thrown down, the stones…
Roger Scruton reviews David Hurst’s *On Westernism* in the January 23 issue of the TLS . While challenging Hurst’s use of Richard Dawkins’s concept of “meme,” he concludes that it is an important book about the contours and imposition of the global ideology that Hurst calls Westernism. Here’s Scruton’s summary…
Jed Perl, art critic for the New Republic , has a rant about John Currin and other contemporary painters in the Feb 16 issue of TNR . Scathing is too weak for this review. He says that Currin produces trash, and incompetent trash at that. Currin believes in nothing other…
Peter Dickson reviews Michael Wood’s BBC film In Search of Shakespeare in the Feb 16 edition of The Weekly Standard . He points out why many scholars are not convinced by Wood’s claim that Shakespeare was a Catholic He admits that “the evidence for the staunch Catholicism of Shakespeare’s parents…
Peter Dickson reviews Michael Wood’s BBC film In Search of Shakespeare in the Feb 16 edition of The Weekly Standard . He points out why many scholars are not convinced by Wood’s claim that Shakespeare was a Catholic He admits that “the evidence for the staunch Catholicism of Shakespeare’s parents…
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