The Scriptorium Daily

Category: Theology

  • (Dis)continuity in Creation and Redemption

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    Matt Jenson
    in

    Christian theology must attend to both continuity and discontinuity when speaking of creation and redemption… So much of theology comes down to strategy. That is, how does the gospel need to make its way into our lives and churches here and now? Liberal Protestant theology could use a good dose of the discontinuity. A little…

  • One Step Beyond Chalcedon

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    The Chalcedonian definition draws boundaries which clearly mark the limits within which orthodox thinking on the incarnation can take place. I’ve written about the greatness of Chalcedon elsewhere. But it is one thing to praise Chalcedon for doing this boundary-drawing, and another thing to say that this is all Chalcedon does. There is no need…

  • The Who? What? Where? When? and Why? of the Emerging Church

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    Matt Jenson
    in ,

    I’ve just finished up co-teaching a class on ‘Readings in Emerging Church Theology’ with Ron Benefiel at Nazarene Theological Seminary. What a joy to be talking church, theology and ministry with pastors-in-training! Too many conversations on this subject begin, ‘What exactly is the emerging church?’ The response is some variation on, ‘Um…well…it’s sort of…well, it’s…

  • Trinity Statue

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    Fred Sanders
    in ,

    The San Francisco Palace of the Legion of Honor is an art museum with a notable sculpture collection. It is most famous for its seventy works by Auguste Rodin, the greatest set of Rodin sculptures anywhere in the world besides the actual Musee Rodin. But the city’s collection of medieval art is also housed here,…

  • Trinity Debate: Sanders vs. Buzzard

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    A few years ago I was invited to engage in a public debate on the Trinity with an anti-trinitarian teacher named Anthony Buzzard. Professor Buzzard teaches that Jesus was nothing more than a human uniquely used by God. His theology is basically Socinian, and he teaches at Atlanta Bible College, which is not your average…

  • A Prayer for the Class of 2007

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    Fred Sanders
    in ,

    This is a prayer for the 2007 graduates of the Torrey Honors Institute, spoken at the commencement ceremony on May 25, 2007. Our Father in Heaven, we bring before you today these graduates of the Torrey Honors Institute. They have spent four years with us, talking and talking and talking. They have talked in seminar…

  • Awaken in Us Childlike Reverence and Trust

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    The Heidelberg Catechism is one of the treasures of the Reformation. Written by Zacharius Ursinus (I call him Zacky Bear) and Kaspar Olevianus, it is 129 Q&A exchanges which guide you devotionally through the core of Christian doctrine. The last nine questions in the catechism unpack the meaning of every line of the Lord’s prayer.…

  • Evangelism Torrey-Style

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    This semester I had the privilege of leading a class on evangelism. It wasn’t my idea. A group of my students in the Torrey Honors Institute asked for a chance to give serious attention to evangelism, so I put together an elective seminar for them. In addition to covering the standard topics that have to…

  • To Be a Pilgrim: Reading Allegory Rightly

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress has been one of the most popular books ever written in English. Samuel Johnson said it was one of only three books which make you wish it were even longer than it is (the others are Robinson Crusoe and Don Quixote). Vincent Van Gogh listed it along with the Bible and…

  • John 3:16’s Systematic Theology

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    You can wave it on a banner at a ball game or print it underneath your In-N-Out cup; John 3:16 is one of the most famous verses in the Bible. No matter how often I see it, no matter what kind of knuckle-head has stuck it to their bumper, no matter how isolated it is…

  • Trinity, Fountain of Salvation

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    It’s easy to lapse into thinking about the doctrine of the Trinity as just some information about God. There’s some kind of downward pull on our thought-lives that makes Christianity seem like a set of 35 key ideas that you have to believe and remember. It’s easy to think that “God is one being, in…

  • How to Read Karl Rahner

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    Karl Rahner (1904-1984) is near the top of the list of most influential and important Roman Catholic theologians of the twentieth century. This Jesuit super-genius was one of the advising theological experts (periti) at Vatican II. Last year, Alvin Kimel over at the pontifications blog declared that “the theologians and clergy of the Catholic Church…