The Trauma of Holiness
Why, to redeem us from the threat of trauma, would we invent a God whose character is infinitely more threatening than anything else we fear?
I can see humanity inventing a benevolent god or even a bad god who is easily appeased. But would we invent a holy God? Where does that come from? For there is nothing in the universe more terrifying, more threatening to a person’s sense of security and well-being than the holiness of God. What we... Continue Reading
The Reformed Tradition on Israel Is Diverse
John Calvin wrote that because the Jews did not “reciprocate” as willing partners in God’s covenant, “they deserve to be repudiated” (Institutes 4.2.3).
Starting at the end of the 16th century, however, some of Calvin’s theological descendants, mostly Puritans, took a different approach. They took seriously the Reformation’s emphasis on the plain sense of the Bible and therefore distinguished between promises made to Jewish Israel and those made to the new Gentile Israel. Is the Reformed tradition... Continue Reading
Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness
Jesus teaches us that he alone satisfies our fundamental need as humans created in the image of God.
Jesus’s words are based on Psalm 107:5, 9: “5 hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. . . . 9 For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.” Hunger and thirst are powerful, because they are the expression of a lack of a fundamental need. We need to eat and... Continue Reading
10 Things You Should Know About the Moral Influence and Example Theories of the Atonement
Abelard argued that there is nothing in God’s nature that necessitates satisfaction or prevents him from indiscriminately forgiving all at any time.
Abelard argued that the love of God in giving up his Son was designed to kindle in our hearts a corresponding love and repentance which together become the ground for the forgiveness of our sins. Thus, the object of Christ’s death is not God but man. His aim was not to satisfy the Father’s wrath... Continue Reading
Unapologetically Pro-Life—From the Moment of Conception Until the Last Breath on Earth
Being pro-life goes from the womb to the tomb, and Christians need to be unapologetic about those values.
If you haven’t yet, take a look at the figures sometime—they’re quite staggering. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regularly releases a surveillance report indicating the number of abortions performed in the U.S. each year. The most recent data indicates that in 2014, 652,639 abortions were performed in the United States; in other words, 186 abortions... Continue Reading
The Nature of Existence: All is One, or All is Two?
The question about existence seems simple, but it can only be answered by faith; none can stand outside of existence to make an “objective,” all-knowing judgment about the nature of things.
There are, probably, ultimately only two possible answers to the question of origins, and they recur at different places in all ages: [either] that the universe is the result of creation by a free personal [intelligent] agency, or that in some way or other it creates itself. The two answers are not finally compatible, and... Continue Reading
The False Gospel We Don’t Talk About
What makes a gospel false is when acceptance and approval by God is placed in something other than Christ.
But that is where this idea of pastors’ visions can go. It’s when the pastor receives a so-called prophetic word from God about what God is doing in that body and the members are required to obey it. This invokes fear for the sincerely faithful who really want to obey God, do not want to... Continue Reading
Don’t Waste God’s Time
It is the degree to which we view time as God does that ultimately determines what we choose to do with the time He has given us
By means of God’s common grace every person who has ever lived, regenerate and unregenerate alike, has been apportioned a certain measure of time on this earth. Ideally, it is to be used in service to the One who gifted that time to us to begin with. Unfortunately, however, not everyone appreciates this, including Christians. As the Puritan missionary David Brainerd, who... Continue Reading
From a “Worthless” Evangelical Woman: A Response to Robert Truelove
Every Christian’s sense of deepest fulfillment and contentment needs to be rooted in Christ, and even that will be imperfect until Heaven.
A person feeling unfulfilled COULD be a result of shirking their duties, but it could be evidence that they are not yet glorified! I realize that Pastor Truelove likely did not mean that a woman should find her ultimate satisfaction in keeping her household, but I think it’s an important clarification to make! (I think... Continue Reading
Translating the N. T. Wright and David Bentley Hart Tussle
The recent New Testament dust-up between big-name scholars reminds us how hard—and important—Bible translation can be.
One notable scholar who does not appear to be particularly impressed by Hart’s translation is Wright, who is probably the closest thing current New Testament scholarship comes to having a celebrity. His review of Hart’s New Testament, published January 15 in The Christian Century, details a lengthy list of disagreements with Hart’s translation choices, and ends... Continue Reading