Essay / Theology

Praying (Hard) Theology: Litany of the Summa

Imagine studying the doctrinal theology of Thomas Aquinas and then turning it, in considerable detail, into praise.That’s what sixteenth-century Jesuit Francis Borgia did. He wrote a book which is basically key sections of the Summa Theologia cast into the form of prayers. Litanies, to be

Essay / Theology

Chester, Delighting in the Trinity

Here is an old book review of an older book: Tim Chester’s Delighting in the Trinity: Why Father, Son, and Spirit are Good News came out back in 2005. When it was re-released in 2010, a popular website asked me to review it. That review

Essay / Theology

“Does it Render Men More Holy and Happy?” (Fletcher)

The important early Methodist John William Fletcher (1729-1785) wrote a short piece called Remarks on the Trinity, which has some, well, remarkable lines in it. On the Trinity. Fletcher has much to say on the subject of the Trinity, but apparently he was specifically provoked

Essay / Theology

Leontius of Byzantium (Works)

Brian Daley has published (2017) his edition of Leontius of Byzantium’s Complete Works. in a handsome 600-page volume from Oxford Press (at a handsomely huge price, of course). It’s got Leontius’ Greek on the left pages and Daley’s English translation on right, plus a masterful

Essay / Theology

Trinity and Ecclesiology

When theologians try to make a connection between the doctrine of the Trinity and the doctrine of the church, they take three main approaches: communion, mission, or structural analogy. Communion: This approach emphasizes the overlap between two vocabularies of communion: inner-trinitarian perichoresis on the one

Essay / Theology

God was Always Ready for Christmas

Here’s a three-minute lesson I taught to the kids (ages 5-11) at church last week. This is a wrapped Christmas package. It takes some planning to put together a Christmas present like this. You have to think of what somebody wants or needs, then go

Essay / Theology

Killer App: Theology.News Journal TOC Feed

Theology.News is a new website that Chris Woznicki, Jesse Gentile, and I are running. It’s a clearing house for all kinds of current activity in the field of academic theology, and with all kinds of user-reporters pitching in, it will be a great channel that

Essay / Theology

Ratzinger on the Undiminished Trinity

Here’s a new book worth looking out for: The Theology of Benedict XVI: A Protestant Appreciation , ed. Tim Perry (Lexham, 2019). It’s just an interesting idea to call on Protestant witnesses to write about the theology of this very theological Pope, and Tim Perry pulled together

Essay / Theology

Class on the Third Person of the Trinity (LATC 2020)

In the spring semester —really in January 2020— I’ll be offering a short course on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit at Biola’s Talbot School of Theology. It’s a course based on the annual Los Angeles Theology Conference, and it’s the easiest course in the world

Essay / Theology

Chalcedonian Box

When I lecture on christology, I often use an illustration that I call the Chalcedonian Box. It’s a diagram that emphasizes the theological boundaries around the mystery of the incarnation. As a visual aid, the box is easy to sketch on the spot (on blackboard,

Essay / Theology

Coptic Theology with Vince Bantu (Reading Theology African)

We read a lot of classic theology from ancient Africa. By “we” I mean the students in two programs: Biola’s Torrey Honors Institute and Talbot School of Theology’s Master of Arts, Classical Theology. Both programs are very Great Booksy, driven by the reading and discussion

Essay / Theology

Providence and Divine Action Book

Here’s a new book with eleven essays on Divine Action and Providence. As co-editor of the collection, I do hereby commend it for your consideration. I don’t know of another recent book that would serve so well as an introduction to the theology of providence.