Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
To begin with the source of this narrative: Since no human being was present to observe these events, we must assume that this narrative was revealed directly by God to a human author. There are three ways this might have happened. First, we might read, "God said to Abraham (or…
The Empire Strikes Back is a movie most of us have seen more than once. It is generally regarded as the best of the three Star Wars films, which is probably due to the fact that unlike the other two, The Empire Strikes Back made use of the services of…
Now that we have examined three unacceptable approaches to the events recorded in Genesis 1, it is only fair for me to set out what does seem to be recorded there. To begin with the source of this narrative: Since no human being was present to observe these events, we…
Two books on the "Bible Code" have appeared this year. The first, a current bestseller, is Michael Drosnin’s The Bible Code (Drosnin, 1997). The other is Cracking the Bible Code (William Morrow, 1997), by Jeffrey Satinover, known to Christians for his outstanding 1996 book Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth…
Part 1: Introduction The collapse of the Western tradition in the United States, seen in the hostility to Christianity in government and education, and the elimination of "traditional" or "canon" learning from our institutions of middle and higher learning, provides a crisis and an opportunity for serious believers at the…
A Brief Defense of John Murray’s “the Free Offer of the Gospel,” & A Question About the Extent of the Atonement John Murray (1898-1975) is probably the last of the great American theologians; he belonged in the same set as that which contains such eminent Presbyterians as Charles Hodge and…
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Barth ( CD 4.1) attacks the notion that the incarnation is a “contradiction” or “paradox” or “rift” in God on two bases. First, he argues that there cannot be any contradiction in God; God is a God peace, not of confusion. Second, he argues that we only draw this conclusion…
Michael Root raised some pointed questions about Milbank’s views on gift. The most cogent criticism was about Milbank’s view of the atonement, in which he argued that there is no “Godward” move in the atonement for Milbank. Milbank explicitly rejects sacrificial notions of atonement, and by Root’s assessment ends up…
Sylvia Keesmaat’s paper was uneven, beginning with some suggestive observations on Philippians 2 and then descending into self-contradiction. First, the good stuff: She suggested that the Christic “hymn” in Philippians 2 is not merely contrasting Jesus and Adam, but Jesus and the emperor. Jesus attains to imperial status, but does…
Richard Hays presented an SBL paper disputing with Frances Watson’s view that the gospel preached by Paul cannot be narrated. According to Hays, Watson’s main concern is that the story of the gospel will be immanentized and become a story of human self-salvation instead of a story of God’s salvation…
God in Flesh, John 1:1-18 INTRODUCTION Many Christians puzzle over the incarnation, the fact that the Son of God took on human flesh. But most of the difficulties come from trying to think about the incarnation using categories from outside the Bible. We think about the incarnation as if the…
One would not think Rosemary Reuther would have much in common with the John Birch Society. During an SBL seminar, though, she said “One of the first things we have to recognize is that we have been taken over.” I’m going to send the JBS her address, since she seems…
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