Category: Blog
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Oneness Pentecostalism: An Analysis
Not Your Grandpa’s Anti-Trinitarianism It is a disturbing fact that the most vigorous form of anti-trinitarianism currently on the market is to be found within the sphere of conservative evangelicalism. In the nineteenth century, the dominant variety of anti-trinitarianism was the old-world Unitarianism which found fertile soil in America. (See Earl Morse Wilbur, A History…
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“We See These Things:” Drawing with Dale Leys
My drawing teacher, Dale Leys, has recently been the subject of a forty-year, three-gallery retrospective exhibit. And while I couldn’t go to Kentucky to see the shows, I was thrilled to see that Kentucky’s public television channel, KET, aired a 30-minute documentary about his work (see below). I’ve had some great teachers since college, but…
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Why to Read Nietzsche
God was dead, to begin with. If you want to understand the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), you have to start where he started, with the premise that there is no God, and that Christian monotheism had all been a big mistake. As far as Nietzsche was concerned, the best thinkers of the mid-nineteenth century…
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What God Inherits
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: ~Ephesians 1:11 In this same Jesus in whom God will in “the fullness of the seasons” head up all things, we are also made a heritage of God (R.…
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Prescriptions for Protestants
This week’s Future of Protestantism discussion was serious fun, a big success, and, I think, a helpful exploration of some crucial issues confronting the churches today. Though it was sparked by an online disagreement, Tuesday’s event was not a debate. It was more like three medical doctors looking at the same ailment and disagreeing about its…
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The Examined Life of Socrates
“The unexamined life is not worth living,” said Socrates. In fact, it might be the most famous thing he ever said. If you wanted a Socrates T-shirt, button, or bumper sticker, this is the phrase that would go on it. Socrates wasn’t good at sound bites. His preferred philosophical style was the interrogation, and he…
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Whither Protestantism?
Last fall, Peter Leithart–a brilliant, eloquent, quirky mind—called for “the end of Protestantism.” “The Reformation isn’t over,” Leithart began. “But Protestantism is, or should be.” Fred Sanders quickly countered that rumors of Protestantism’s demise had been greatly exaggerated by Leithart. Leithart responded with a “yes, but…” And someone got the bright idea to open up…
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20 things I wish I knew as a college student
I don’t know if you are like me, but as I look back on my college years I wish someone would have pulled me aside and given me some tips on how best to pursue an education at the university. So I decided to put together a list called 20 things I wish someone told…
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The Life of Jesus in Paintings at the Getty
The Getty Center in Los Angeles is not really the best place to go if you want to see Christian art. Except for the remarkable collection of illuminated manuscripts, the Getty’s collection just isn’t built around the themes and images of the Christian visual tradition –it started as a collection of French furniture and antiquities,…
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No Trinitarian Sidehug
John 1:18 calls Jesus “the one who is in the bosom of the Father.” You can check out a lot of different translations at Biblehub here (the Greek is ho on eis ton kolpon tou patros). It’s a funny phrase, “in the bosom.” And by funny, I partly mean that it produces snickers from the youth group,…
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What’s a Good Question?
In his visionary book Finding Common Ground, Tim Downs noted that “because Christians tend to be answer people, we’re not especially skilled at asking good questions; questions that aren’t simplistic, leading, or downright insulting.” Ouch. In Biola’s Torrey Honors Institute, we’re answer people, but we teach socratically. That means our primary job as teachers is…
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Steward of the Infinite Riches of God’s Grace
That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; [even] in him: ~Ephesians 1:10 The “mystery” or revealed secret in this case is the Gospel, God’s purposes and plan and method of redeeming the Gentile…