Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
I grew up on the north side of Chicago. My parents were evangelicals and I was raised in the faith. I graduated from a large public high school in which practicing Christians were very few and very far between (though nominal Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox were in abundance), which…
During the recent round table discussion on the future of Protestantism , Peter Leithart advocated a much greater degree of unity in the Church than we presently enjoy. Another participant in the discussion wondered aloud how Leithart's vision would be different from the ministerial associations that presently exist in many…
"But he, wanting to justify himself, said, 'And who is my neighbor?' And Jesus said to him, 'First, your neighbors are the people in your church, then the ones with whom you enjoy greatest doctrinal or ecclesiastical commonality, then those with whom you enjoy less commonality.'" -Said Jesus... never Since…
A number of years ago, I came across something in the Puritan Thomas Goodwin in regard to John 17:22. Goodwin points out that Jesus prays that they (the disciples) might be given the glory of the Father as a means to an end. The end is unity, and the means…
In her prize-winning book, Gilead , Marilynne Robinson uses the pastoral settings of Iowa to challenge ministers to live up to their high callings. One of the most powerful themes in the novel is the pastor’s power to “bless.” The tension in the novel builds as we watch Rev. Ames…
One of the few glaring errors of the Protestant Reformers was the failure to welcome children back to the Lord's Table. Something that seems to go along with this was the exclusion of other kinds of Christians, primarily Roman Catholics, from Holy Communion in Protestant churches. Exclusion of Roman Catholics…
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INTRODUCTION Ahab?s son continues in his father?s ways, worshiping Baal and seeking Baal?s aid rather than looking to Yahweh. But there is a God in Israel, and Elijah is His prophet. And Elijah is like the flame of God burning away the dross of Israel. THE TEXT ?Jehoshaphat the son…
Now Yehoshafat son of ‘Asa’ reigned-as-king over Yehudah in the fourth year to ‘Achav king of Yisrael. Yehoshafat [was] a son of third and five years in his reigning-as-king. And twenty and give years he reigned-as-king in Yerushalam. Now the name of his mother, ‘Azuvah, daughter of Shilchiy. And he…
Psalm 78:40-42: ?How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert. And again and again they tempted God, and pained the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power, the day when He redeemed them from the adversary.?E Isaiah 63:10: ?But they…
Love, Augustine said, is always triadic, always involves three: the lover, the one beloved, and the love itself. God is love, and this means, Augustine reasoned, that in God there is a Lover, a Beloved, and Love itself. He believed that these correspond to the Persons of the Trinity: The…
INTRODUCTION Romans 8:31-39 is better sung than commented upon. It is a thrilling, ecstatic hymn of confident assurance that God?s purposes will be accomplished. Yet, I will attempt to comment on them. If we are to sing Paul?s hymn, let?s make sure we sing with understanding. Given the character of…
Scott Hafemann has characteristically thoughtful comments about Paul’s contrast of letter and Spirit in 2 Corinthians 3: “Paul’s contrast is not an abstract one between ‘outward’ and ‘inward,’ between ‘externality’ and ‘internality,’ between ‘ritualism’ and ‘a living experience fo the Spirit,’ or between ‘rigidity’ and ‘spontaneity,’ etc., as is often…
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