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…
Showing page 232 of 309
Showing page 9 of 43
It’s GKC, so who can argue? “It is difficult to approach critically so great a figure as that of Bottom the Weaver. He is greater and more mysterious than Hamlet, because the interest of such men as Bottom consists of a rich subconsciousness, and that of Hamlet in the comparatively…
INTRODUCTION Jesus continues to do miracles of healing and deliverance. In spite of Jesus’ cautions (9:30), “news” about Him is spreading and His popularity is increasing (9:26, 31). The “crowd” (9:23, 25, 33) is growing, and growing in significance. THE TEXT “While He spoke these things to them, behold, a…
Matthew 9:17: Nor do men put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved. Jesus is the bridegroom, come at last to his waiting guests and attendants.…
Matthew 8:27: And the men marveled, saying, What kind of man is this, that even the winds and sea obey Him? Water has a complex significance in the Bible. On the one hand, water is essential to life. Without water, plants dry and die. Without water, human life withers and…
The Pharisees are right. They protest when Jesus tells the paralytic that his sins are forgiven. Who can forgive sins but God alone? they ask. The answer is, No one. If someone insults or offends you, no one else has the right to forgive that offense except you. Sin is…
A reader asks for direction in getting started with the work of Henri de Lubac. Here are some suggestions. First, for a very brief summary of his work and contributions, see the chapter on him in Fergus Kerr’s book on twentieth-century Catholic thought. Second, von Balthasar wrote a brief overview…
Showing page 1573 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
