Category: Blog
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Paul's Dramatic and Tragic List of Sins
In First Timothy 1:8-11, Paul gives a striking list of the kind of people that the law was given in order to restrain: The law is not for the just, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for…
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Lenten Asceticism
As most of you know, we are nearly two weeks into Lent, that forty day period that we set aside before Easter to prepare ourselves for the remembrance of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s an important season in the church calendar and should be an important time of preparation for all…
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The Vision of the Bible Institute (Biola 1912)
In the summer of 1912, the Bible Institute of Los Angeles had been in business for four years, and was about to make major changes. They were putting up an important building in downtown Los Angeles, and hiring the most famous evangelist in the world, R. A. Torrey, as their first academic dean. That July,…
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Sin Safari
A cartoon tour of the bestiary of sin, exploring the terrible fauna of hamartiology. In issue 4 of Dr. Doctrine’s Christian Comix (InterVarsity Press, 1999), I did my best Dr. Seuss imitation to explore the doctrine of sin. You may need to click through to a larger image to read the text well.
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Biola's Founders (104th Birthday)
Last week Biola celebrated its 104th birthday, and I got to speak in the Founder’s Day chapel service about the three most important founders: Lyman Stewart, T.C. Horton, and R. A. Torrey. Thirty minutes is not enough time to do them justice! But the audience was good, and spirits were high, and I shared as…
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5 Things I Learned at Torrey From John Mark Reynolds
In the previous post, John Mark announced that he was leaving the honors program he founded to become the new head of academics at Houston Baptist University. He’s continuing, of course, to be an essential member of the team at Wheatstone Ministries through insight at board meetings, speeches at conferences and events, his kind and…
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The Old Order Changes
Outside my family, Torrey Honors is the best thing to happen to me so far. The chance to start Torrey and work with the chums has been the greatest honor of my life. Jesus built Torrey and it was a miracle that I could be involved. I am so thankful to Biola University for taking…
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Lent’s Road to Eternity
Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if, when he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls?—J.R.R. Tolkien, from his lecture titled “On Fairy Stories,” given in 1939. As a pre-adolescent kid growing up in…
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Tom Smail (1928-2012): "The Spirit is Given from the Cross"
Tom Smail, evangelical and charismatic British theologian of the Trinity, died last week (Feb 15). A few obituaries have appeared from those who knew him or studied with him. I knew him only from his remarkable books, which were always exquisitely balanced between tradition and creativity. As something of an evangelical-charismatic statesman, Smail tended to…
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Foreword to Harrower's Trinitarian Self and Salvation
Scott Harrower of the Melbourne School of Theology has just published a book called Trinitarian Self and Salvation: An Evangelical Engagement with Rahner’s Rule (Wipf & Stock, 2012). About a decade ago, I wrote my own “evangelical engagement with Rahner’s Rule,” so Scott asked me to write the foreword for his project. I really appreciated…
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R. T. France (1938-2012), New Testament Scholar
Last week, R. T. France passed away. There are notices of his passing at several Bible blogs, including this one at the Evangelical Textual Criticism site. France taught in numerous places over the years, and wrote many helpful works. Evangelical Bible scholars can testify to his substantive contribution to the field. I want to praise…