Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
“And it shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land,” declares the Lord, “they shall say no more, ‘The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.’ And it shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they miss it, nor…
Elsewhere, I have argued that there is grace in the so-called covenant of works (see, e.g., my colloquium essay, “A Response to ‘The Biblical Plan of Salvation,’” in The Auburn Avenue Theology: Pros and Cons , edited by Calvin Beisner (pages 118-148). It may be equally surprising to find justice…
Years ago, as a layman, I had the privilege of attending a Bible study led by a gifted teacher. His story was interesting: back when he was a student he had been severely sanctioned for affirming that one must repent in order to be saved, that one must trust Jesus…
Believing that God really exists Defining “faith” is sometimes made too complicated. The theologian, Louis Berkhof, for example, distinguishes “faith in general” from “faith in the religious sense and particularly saving faith.” Berkhof’s core definition of saving faith is not so bad. He says that it is “a certain conviction,…
It is generally acknowledged that when Paul wrote letters to churches, he expected his letters to be read in the worship service to the congregation. It is interesting, then, that when Paul wrote letters to a congregation he could feel free to address children and tell them to obey their…
Book 4 of Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion is a classic work of ecclesiology. This book is the longest section of the Institutes , showing Calvin’s deep interest in and love for the church. Among its many salutary features is a full scale exposition of those ecclesiastical leaders Calvin…
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In 1 Kings 14, Jeroboam’s wife goes disguised to visit a prophet from Shiloh, who announces the death of her son and the eventual destruction of his dynasty. Ahijah tells Jeroboam’s wife that another king will take the kingdom. In 1 Samuel 28, Saul goes disguised to visit a medium…
1 Corinthians 5:7: Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Jeroboam?s dynasty, and the entire northern kingdom with it, was condemned from the beginning. No sooner had he led Israel out of the ?Egypt?Eof the house of David than he led them into an wilderness of idolatry. As we…
It looked like such a good idea. Jeroboam has been given ten tribes of Israel to rule, and he wants to keep them together. If the people of Israel continue to worship in the Jerusalem, their loyalties of his people will be divided and they might even plot to assassinate…
A few notes from JE Phillips, The State in Shakespeare’s Greek and Roman Plays . 1) Phillips repeatedly points out that the play depicts corruption flowing from the highest reaches of society downward. The Senators and nobility of Athens are deeply corrupted, unable to recognize and honor true nobility because…
Speaking of Wright, there is a remarkably prophetic passage early in Jesus and the Victory of God where Wright seems to predict the response of some conservatives to his work. Enlightenment thought deployed history as a weapon to critique and dissolve theology (genealogically). Playing off the parable of the prodigal…
Basil Studer ( Trinity and Incarnation , pp 36-37) points to the use of biblical titles for Jesus among early Christians influenced by Judaism. Among these is the designation of Jesus as “law” or “covenant”: “the Shepherd of Hermas, the Kerygma Petrou and Justin name Christ as law or covenant”…
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