Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt…
Part 5: Laying New Foundations in a Dying World As I mentioned above, the history of Israel involved several centuries as a church-without-a-culture, and then several centuries as a culture-without-a-city. To be sure, there was an informal culture around the church of the Patriarchs, but the civilization of free farmers…
In the Reformation Tradition we baptize both professing believers and their children. In the case of infants it is now commonly insisted that this is done because the children are already in covenant with God. Baptism is a sign and seal of a previously existing reality. Despite the popularity of…
Concerning Sex & the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the loaf of bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one loaf, we who are many…
Protestant-Catholic debates about the sacraments have usually taken the form of debates about sacramental efficacy. Protestants claim that Catholics believe that sacraments work ex opere operato, virtually a magical view of the sacraments. A priest goes through the motions and says the mumbo-jumbo and — presto! — the sacraments confer…
In 27.2, the Westminster Confession says that because of the “spiritual relation” between sacraments and the things they represent, “the names and effects of the one are attributed to the other.” Applied to baptism, this means that when the Bible says that we are baptized into Christ (Rom. 6), it…
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When John first sees the heavenly worship as he ascends to heaven, the four living creatures take the lead with an unceasing Sanctus. The twenty-four elders fall down before the One on the throne, cast their crowns before the throne, and praise God for His glory, honor, and power. They…
When the Lamb breaks the fifth seal, martyrs cry out for vindication. That launches a thread of the plot of Revelation that continues to the end of the seven bowls. At this point, these seem to be the salient moments: 1) Martyrs cry out for vindication and are told to…
Daniel Castelo’s Confessing the Triune God is a contribution to Cascade’s Wesleyan Doctrine Series. The Trinity is not a possession of Methodism, and much of Castelo’s book covers familiar ground - the roots of Trinitarian theology in the gospel, the early church debates about the Trinity, the danger of projection,…
Oliver Crisp admits that he has “been drawn to the margins of theological orthodoxy or to the doctrinally eccentric.” His reason is constructive: “those occupying such liminal places are intrinsically interesting subjects for theological exploration,” not least because “their work . . . throws light on upon the shape and…
Genesis is full of genealogies: A genealogy for Cain (ch. 4), for Seth (ch. 5), a table of the sons of Noah (ch 10), of Shem and Terah (ch. 11), of Ishmael (ch. 25), and of Esau (ch. 36). Besides those seven (!) genealogies, there are other lists of names…
The innumerable multitude that appears in Revelation 7:9 wears white robes, made clean by being washed in the blood of the Lamb (7:14). This cleansing gives them a sevenfold blessing: 1) They are before the throne, serving God day and night; 2) they are covered with the Lord’s tabernacle; 3)…
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