The Scriptorium Daily

Author: Fred Sanders

  • The Kingdom in Person

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    Fred Sanders
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    Origen of Alexandria (ca 184-254) apparently coined the word “autobasileia,” meaning something like “the kingdom in person.” It was in his commentary on Matthew 18, as he was discussing the parable that begins: “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.” Origen, who had…

  • The Very Atmosphere Mentally Absorbed

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    Fred Sanders
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    The age of the full-scale “hellenization” critique of early Christian doctrine seems to have passed, at least for now: anybody who wants to assert that the church’s early thinkers allowed the pure biblical message to be contaminated by Greek thought has to write so many footnotes qualifying the charge, answering compelling objections, making reasonable concessions,…

  • Theology of the Pastoral Epistles (Lecture)

    Theology of the Pastoral Epistles (Lecture)

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    Fred Sanders
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    Here is video of a lecture I gave last semester on the theology of the pastoral epistles. The time I spent studying Titus and 1 & 2 Timothy last year at Los Angeles Bible Training School was very productive theologically. It seems like there have always been plenty of reasons to neglect and marginalize these…

  • No Mules Were Skinned: The History of the Muleskinner Blues

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    Fred Sanders
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    Let’s say you get obsessed with a song. And let’s say it’s an old song, one that’s been around a long time and has been performed so many ways that it’s no longer possible to name any particular version of it as definitive. If you’re like me, that’s when you fire up a Youtube search…

  • Spaaaace Tuuuunes!

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    Fred Sanders
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    Here’s some fun music by friends at my church: Lost in Space, by The Pop Rockets. Click through to the Noisetrade page to sample all five tracks and download them if you like what you hear. As for me and my house, we like what we hear. Anybody with Vacation Bible School in their background will…

  • The Bible and Divine Speaking

    The Bible and Divine Speaking

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    Fred Sanders
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    The doctrine of Scripture (bibliology, the doctrine that states what the Bible is and how it functions in the church) ought to be a doctrine about God’s speech. When the doctrine is handled with proper amplitude and attentiveness, it is a doctrine about God communicating verbally in a way that results in these prophetic and…

  • When Torrey Went to Cambridge

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    Fred Sanders
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    For the last six years, students from the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola have taken a summer trip to Cambridge, England. The trip is a three-week academic course in the humanities that specializes in reading local authors and making the most of being in the rich cultural site that is Cambridge. “Great Books in a…

  • Trinitarian Theology Pre-Holmes and Post-Holmes

    Trinitarian Theology Pre-Holmes and Post-Holmes

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    So, it’s ridiculous to divide the history of trinitarian theology into the periods before and after Stephen R. Holmes published his book The Quest for the Trinity. For one thing, that was just 2012, so the the post-Holmes period isn’t big enough to say much about. For another thing, Holmes’ book wasn’t that radical of a…

  • “Two Distributed Doctrines” (Webster)

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    Fred Sanders
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    In one of the “working papers in Christian theology,” which are widely assumed to be indications of where he’s heading with a forthcoming systematic theology, John Webster argues that the doctrine of creation should occupy a more determinative place in dogmatics. The essay is “Non ex aequo: God’s Relation to Creatures.” (already printed in a Paul…

  • Unperplexed About Atonement

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    Fred Sanders
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    Adam Johnson’s new book Atonement: A Guide for the Perplexed is now available. John Webster says it shows “acute theological judgement,” and Kevin Vanhoozer calls it “a theological treasure trove.” So please move it to the top of your reading list. Johnson’s strategy in handling the doctrine of the atonement is to go big with it,…

  • Hearing Voices: Trinity in the Old Testament

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    Fred Sanders
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    “The primary condition of knowledge for reading the Psalms is the ability to see as whose mouthpiece we are to regard the Psalmist as speaking, and who it is that he addresses.” So says Hilary of Poitiers at the beginning of his fourth-century Psalms commentary. And while Hilary is interested in identifying human authors and speakers,…

  • Generations Eternal and Current

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    Fred Sanders
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    Steve Holmes recently reviewed the book One God in Three Persons: Unity of Essence, Distinction of Persons, Implications for Life, edited by Bruce Ware and John Starke (Crossway, 2015). In Holmes’ review, entitled Reflections on a new defense of ‘complementarianism,’ he interacts especially with the historical arguments of several of the chapters in the book,…