Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The doctrine of justification is precious among Protestants. And it should be. The fact that God has declared our sins forgiven and that we have a righteous standing in the sight of God united to Christ is comforting and brings great joy. Unfortunately, the biblical teaching on justification is, many…
The Old Testament priests were given a number of seemingly disparate duties. As everyone knows, the priests led the sacrificial worship of Israel; only the priests could sprinkle blood on the altar or within the tabernacle, and only they could approach the altar to turn sacrificial animals into smoke. But…
M issional ecclesiology is all the rage these days, but for many being “missional” means downplaying or even eliminating concern for the “internal” life of the church, particularly its liturgical life. Missional and liturgical, mission and communio , are locked in zero-sum combat. That cannot be right. The liturgy is…
An old friend of mine, now passed into Heaven, started to say this in relationship to his sometimes troubled family, in the last quarter of his life, "I just had to take responsibility for the whole thing..." That was the seed for a new reading of the Gospel for me,…
She departed the port, dressed in her best ceremonial regalia, with tassels and flags fluttering from her mast and rigging. She stood tall, robed in mist, crowned in white, and backlit by the rising sun. There she sat, shimmering and spotless; with a perfect ragtop, and a full tank of…
John the Baptist is presented in the gospels as the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise that God would send His messenger to prepare the way for the coming of the glory of the Lord (Is. 40), and the promise to send Elijah before Him to turn the people to…
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Should Protestants have excluded Catholics from the Lord’s table? James B. Jordan thinks not , and also tells some tales from the front of Reformational Catholicism.
Doctrinal differences between Catholics and Protestants look permanent and intractable. It looks as if one or the other must simply win the struggle. But doctrinal impasses aren’t resolved by a death-battle between current options. They’re resolved by fresh formulations that synthesize existing concerns, break new ground, solve some difficulties and…
Christopher Caldwell offers this concise analysis of the fateful conversation between Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling and V. Stiviano: It is “pathetic intimate quarrel between Mr Sterling and a 31-year-old woman, V Stiviano. Something is upsetting Mr Sterling very much, but it is not black people – at least not primarily.…
Paul, writes Theodore Jennings in Outlaw Justice , “is concerned with the most basic issues of political thinking, law and justice” (3). Translations, though, often obscure this interest, minimizing the political dimensions of Paul’s vocabulary and arguments by turning his letters into “religious” teaching, teaching concerned primarily with the salvation…
The challenge of the Middle East peace process is the problem of the disparity of power. Andrew Bacevich writes , “Between Israelis and Palestinians, the disparity of power looms large and not by accident. Even before founding their state, Zionists were intent on acquiring a surplus of power. By means…
Reader David Gornoski writes: I had a lot of fun with the social construct theory professors. I say, Yes, Language does construct reality. “In the beginning was the Word.” God spoke and now we exist. And yes, reality is socially constructed. A society in one being, the Trinity created it.…
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