Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The 666 talents of gold are worth an awful lot, not just in terms of money but in terms of theological meaning–at least worth a lot more than most modern Evangelical commentators would think. In Revelation 13:18 we are told that the number of the beast is a number “of…
There is a debate going on between professing Bible-believers about the meaning of Genesis One and the six "days" recorded therein. Is the cosmos about six thousand years old or is it many billions of years old? Was the universe six days old when human life came into existence or…
Understanding John the Baptist in Light of Biblical Theology Anyone who has read Geerhardus Vos’ Biblical Theology cannot help but recognize its immense value to those wanting to better understand Scripture. Nevertheless, we would dishonor Vos if we did not seek to go beyond him once he has placed us…
John Chrysostom’s Commitment, Communication, & Conception of the Pastoral Office (Completed in December 5, 1996, in fulfillment of the requirements for the J. R. Wilson Preaching lectures delivered by Dr. Robert S. Rayburn) In Antioch and then in Constantinople, John Chrysostom grew in wisdom and stature with men and God…
This kind of language is revelatory in a particular way, different from ordinary language. It reveals man as the image of God, as the ruler of creation, as having authority over other persons in various ways, etc. It is the particular kind of language used by rulers as they rule,…
We continue our analysis of John Sailhamer’s book *Genesis Unbound: A Provocative New Look at the Creation Account* (Multnomah Books, 1996), which argues that Genesis 1:2ff. is not about the creation of the whole world, but about the preparation of the Land of Eden, which is also the Promised Land.…
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Section 1.18 Cur Deus Homo contains a strange, very medieval digression on the question of whether the number of elect human beings is equal to, less, or greater than the number of fallen angels, and whether God created humans to make up the number of fallen angels. Through a series…
Anselm ( Cur Deus Homo , 1.18) offers this lovely description of the consummation of all things. Creation consists on the one hand of the blessed city that is being built and brought to consummation. Physical creation is also destined to be renewed into something better ( in melius renovandam…
God’s honor cannot be diminished or increased in itself, but when human beings refuse to honor and obey Him, Anselm says ( Cur Deus Homo , 1.15), they dishonor God in relation to themselves. In so far as they are able, the disobedient disturb the “order and beauty of the…
Jacob Taubes - part historian, part philosopher, mostly stand-up comedian - gives this hilarious anecdote to illustrate how Paul conquered the European imagination ( The Political Theology of Paul (Cultural Memory in the Present) , 41): “I have a very good friend - now he’s a bishop in Stockholm, he…
At the outset of Cur Deus Homo? Anselm cannot pull himself away from the beauty of the atonement. To say God humbled himself is not unsuitable ( convenire ) and makes no injury to God. It is perfectly appropriate, as evident from the symmetry of fall and redemption: Death enters…
For a sophisticated theologian, Conor Cunningham’s arguments ( Darwin’s Pious Idea: Why the Ultra-Darwinists and Creationists Both Get It Wrong ) against a literal interpretation of Genesis 1 are remarkably thin. He follows what he describes as a “sophisticated” patristic hermeneutics, and adds “After all, if the first two chapters…
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