Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The 2002 Auburn Avenue Pastor’s Conference and the Assurance of Grace Recently, there has been some controversy over the presentations of four speakers at the Auburn Avenue Pastor’s Conference. Accusations have been made including a denial of justification by faith alone and something close enough to “baptismal regeneration” that it…
Today, many in the Reformed world view a meritorious covenant of works as essential to a proper understanding of the gospel. These theologians believe that God set up a program in the Garden by which Adam would merit eternal life and blessing by his obedience. These same theologians usually regard…
After I graduated from college in 1989, I spent a summer in the Atlanta area in Georgia learning that I was not cut out for construction work. Then I met George Grant, one of my favorite authors. He was working for a church in South Florida in charge of their…
One meaning of “righteousness” in the Bible is moral uprightness. Perhaps a more basic meaning would be faithfulness. For example, Psalm 96.13 praises God, saying: He will judge the world in righteousness, And the peoples in faithfulness. In Hebrew poetry two lines often say the same thing using different words.…
I once saw “eschatology” defined as the study of edible French snails. But it really means the doctrine of the last things in Christian theology. In American Evangelical culture it is usually reduced to science fiction stories. But for the Apostle Paul it was actually the key to the Christian…
To understand the view of Nicholas Thomas Wright regarding Christ’s work of redemption, one must begin with the centrality of Adam to the plight of the human race. Anyone who has heard Wright’s lectures on Philippians will not be able to forget his haunting appeal to Genesis 5.3 as a…
Showing page 233 of 309
Showing page 8 of 43
The Sacrificial Body And the Day of Doom: Alchemy And Apocalyptic Discourse in the Protestant Reformation by Urszula Szulakowska links together early modern alchemy with Reformation sacramental theology, art, and interpretations of Revelation. At the center she places Stefan Michelspacher’s 1616 Cabala: Spiegel der Kunst und Natur , explaining that…
Isaiah 60:19-20 is a Celtic knot of a text. The obvious structure is a parallelism: A. No longer sun for light B. Nor moon for brightness C. Yahweh will be everlasting light D. Your God for your beauty A’. Your sun will not set any more B’. Nor will the…
Isaiah 60 forms a distinct unit, with a generally chiastic structure: A. Light has come and the glory of Yahweh, vv 1-3 B. Caravans of kings will be treasures to Zion, vv 4-9 (including gold and silver, vv 6, 9) C.Foreigners build walls and gates open, v 10-11a D.Kings will…
Yahweh promises to upgrade Israel: In place of their bronze, iron, wood, and stones He will give gold, silver, bronze, and iron (Isaiah 60:17). It’s a myth of decline in reverse, with the golden age following rather than preceding the bronze (see Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, & Hope In Western…
Christopher R. Smith’s After Chapters & Verses is a systematic critique of the current format of the Bible, its division into chapters and verses, its book divisions, and its ordering of books within the canon. He wants to erase the chapter and verse markings, and put the books into a…
Using an unusual transsexual image, Isaiah promises that Israel will “suck the milk of nations and suck the breast of kings” (Isaiah 60:16). Gentile kings will take the place of Moses, the “nursing father” of Israel (cf. Numbers 11:12). And not just Moses: Most of the references to milk in…
Showing page 711 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
