Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Click HERE for an audio version of this article. For part 1 of this series, click HERE . The New Covenant changes none of this. There is nothing new or odd about Mary’s sitting at Jesus’ feet, nothing strange about various “deaconesses” serving the Incarnate Tabernacle. Paul affirms that in…
An Introduction Despite my rather hectic schedule as a father and pastor, I’ve become more and more concerned that a tract defending God’s sovereignty and fore-ordination of all things would be a helpful tool for the Reformed pastor–one converstational in tone and persuasive in style. I have decided to undertake…
There has been a great deal of controversy in the various conservative Reformed microdenominations in North America. Since I am a pastor in one of these and have been advocating a return to the historic Protestant and Confessional view over again the baptistic mutation that is now prevalent in our…
I have recently written on justification as a covenant status and justification and adoption , understood as joining with Christ and his family at the Lord’s Supper . I write about things like this because it seems quite common in America to denigrate the need for community in one’s commitment…
Samuel Miller was one of the early professors at Princeton Theological Seminary. As a Presbyterian he wrote a book that defended infant baptism . Miller’s book was fine, but his appendix on baptismal regeneration seems problematic. Of course, his initial attack on superstition is quite warranted, but I am speaking…
Awhile back I wrote the following, first quoting from the author of the excellent book, A Baptism That Saves : The sacramental view [of baptism] most accords with the idea of God’s initiating a covenant by his sovereign decree in election–effecting this through effectual calling. This is because, instead of…
Showing page 225 of 309
Showing page 1 of 43
Assuming Gen 1:1 describes an act of creation and is not a title: It’s striking that the Gen account begins with the creation of two realms rather than a single entity or realm. Hesiod says that there was one reality, chaos; Anaximander says “together were all things”; Thales claimed that…
Bill Cavanaugh has argued that the early modern “wars of religion” were not really conflicts about religion but rather conflicts that created the modern notion of religion. Something similar can be said about the war between Scripture and science in the early modern period. In fact, these were both the…
Wim JC Weren proposes a “macrostructure” for Matthew in a 2006 article in Biblica. His scheme is not convincing, but along the way he makes some helpful observations. 1) He suggests that there’s a topographical thread running through the gospel, marked by various recurrent refrains. From the beginning of the…
Christina Hoff Sommers and Sally Satel, One Nation Under Therapy: How the Helping Culture is Eroding Self-Reliance . New York: St. Martin’s, 2005. 310 pp. PE classes are dangerous places. Dodge ball might leave nasty bruises, and, worse, the frustrations of competition and failure permanently destroy a kid’s psyche. Non-competitive…
Jeffrey Geoghegan examines the OT events that take place during sheep-shearing festivals in an article in Biblica . He tries to discern the common themes in the four passages set during sheep-shearing: Gen 31, 38; 1 Sam 25; 2 Sam 13. He argues that sheep-shearing was a “significant celebration, characterized…
When Jesus promises to send the Spirit, he describes the Spirit as the “Paraclete.” This word is often translated as “Comforter,” but the Greek word has a legal connotation and is actually closer to “Advocate” or even “Defense Attorney.” A Paraclete doesn’t “soothe” so much as “defend.” That’s a good…
Showing page 1827 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
