Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
My first title for this series of posts was “Evangelical Sacramental Ecumenism” – not exactly a clickbait title. But those three words, evangelical, sacramental, and ecumenical, say a lot: The centrality of the gospel; a focus on baptism, bread, and wine; and the quest for visible unity among diverse churches.…
I can imagine someone reading the title of this essay and saying to himself, "I have two questions. First, what in the world is “contextualization”?" Second, even before hearing the answer to the first question, he may wonder, "what does baptism have to do with such an awkward and vague…
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 My colleague Ralph Smith has recently written on this passage, here . I entirely agree with Ralph's thrust, which is typological, that the passage is ultimately aimed at the entire nation of Israel itself as the rebellious son. But what I am thinking is from another perspective, perhaps…
In the previous article in this series, I drew attention to the threefold meaning of the Spirit of God descending as a dove on Jesus at His baptism. On a related note, I also argued that 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and Titus 3:3-7 were parallel passages that addressed the same issues…
The National Anthem protest is misguided. So too the conservative backlash. The Church’s response has been disappointing. I address each in turn. The greatest triumph of the American Civil Rights Movement was its seizing of the moral high ground in American politics. It did so by insisting only on those…
Peter Leithart’s book, The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism , argues that baptism is parallel to and the fulfillment of the old covenant rite of priestly ordination. But this is not something explicitly stated in the New Testament. Why, then, should we believe it? Leithart shows in…
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Another installment of my review of Naphtali Meshel’s The “Grammar” of Sacrifice at the Trinity House site .
An excerpt from a chapel homily at Tri-City Christian School, Somersworth, New Hampshire. Christians are always called to be witnesses, but in the world you enter your witness will take the form of martyrdom. You are called to be witnesses to the truth of God’s Word in the face of…
Adonis Vidu ( Atonement, Law, and Justice ) focuses much of his attention on the import that the “doctrine” of divine simplicity holds for our understanding of atonement. He denies that simplicity is a philosophical imposition on Scripture, but rather a rule of reading Scripture that preserves the unity of…
Adonis Vidu ( Atonement, Law, and Justice ) argues that “What simplicity, or the perfection of divine agency, helps us to understand, however, is that the most basic unit of divine action in history is not the ‘discrete’ actions (teaching, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension), but the whole mission of God in…
After Windsor, I predicted we would see the rise of “Good Republicans” who backed away from social issues, and from defending marriage in particular. The Good Republican Watch continues apace. The New York Times reported earlier this week on the “tidal” shift in the culture wars. Republicans are on the…
A decade ago, a critic at Christianity Today worried about U2’s “thin ecclesiology.” Though openly Christian, Bono and his crew have not associated with any church. Writing at The New Yorker , Joshua Rothman argues that the last several decades have bolstered the band’s theology. He connects their chariness about…
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