The Scriptorium Daily

Category: Theology

  • Interrupted Preaching

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    Though I wouldn’t want to change its name, the Book of Acts is really a Book of Words, and a Book of Speeches to be more precise. The reason, as G.H.R. Horsley has pointed out, is that “the Preaching is itself the subject of Acts,” that is, Luke was not just telling the story of…

  • Ezekiel, “Uncommon and Eccentric?”

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    Scottish pastor/theologian Patrick Fairbairn (1805 – 1874) wrote an interesting discursive commentary on Ezekiel called Ezekiel and the Book of his Prophecy: An Exposition (4th ed, 1876) that I’ve peeked into a bit recently. Fairbairn’s comments on the prophet’s own personality are interesting. When I was first getting to know the Bible, I had the impression that…

  • “The Lord Christ Was An Expositor”

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    The puritan William Greenhill (1591–1671) wrote An Exposition of the Prophet Ezekiel, an abundant commentary that runs to five volumes. As he was winding up to throw out the first pitch, he got excited thinking about the whole idea of writing an Exposition. So he started by writing about the nature of exposition, and what he…

  • “Something to Do With Something Else”

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    Fred Sanders
    in ,

    Before the camera shut off, the police officer who had put the lethal choke hold on Eric Garner looked directly into the lens and explained, “this wasn’t about the fight. This had something to do with something else.” It seems  he meant to obfuscate, but being an officer of the law, he spoke truer than…

  • Saved by Word and Spirit: Bloesch on Salvation

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    Here’s a link to an article I recently published on the doctrine of salvation in the theology of Donald Bloesch: Saved by Word and Spirit: The Shape of Soteriology in Donald Bloesch’s Christian Foundations, in Midwestern Journal of Theology, Spring 2014 (13.1), 81-96. Bloesch’s  system of theology, Christian Foundations, doesn’t actually have a separate volume on salvation: the…

  • A Real Advent

    A Real Advent

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    Greg Peters
    in ,

    There are two versions of this essay by Greg Peters. You may be looking for this one. According to St. Benedict of Nursia the Christian life should be a continuous Lent. And according to Sts. Wal-Mart, Target, and Starbucks the fall should be a continuous Christmas. Holiday decorations have gone up earlier this year in…

  • Boersma Writes Back

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    Matt Jenson
    in

    On this Thanksgiving Day, we are grateful for a response from Hans Boersma to the three previous days’ blog posts (pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3). Let me first express my deep appreciation to Matt and Greg for taking the initiative to engage with my books on sacramental ontology and on nouvelle théologie.  I am…

  • Weaving a Platonic Tapestry (Boersma pt. 3)

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    Matt Jenson
    in

    Part 3 of Greg Peters and Matt Jenson’s discussion of Hans Boersma’s recent project on the Nouvelle Théologie.  Peters:  As a sacramentalist in the Anglican tradition who finds more affinity with the (Neo-)Platonic heritage than the Aristotelian heritage, there is much in Boersma (and the NT) that excites me. Throughout much of the text I found…

  • “An Infinite Forest of Meanings” (Boersma pt. 2)

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    Matt Jenson
    in

    Today we continue our discussion of Hans Boersma’s Nouvelle Théologie and Sacramental Ontology: A Return to Mystery. Jenson:  I’d assume just about any thoughtful Christian would want to applaud a view of the world as the theatre of God’s action. The Creator, thanks be to God, is also the Sustainer, Redeemer, and Perfecter. At a…

  • What’s so Nouvelle about the Nouvelle Théologie? (Boersma pt. 1)

    What’s so Nouvelle about the Nouvelle Théologie? (Boersma pt. 1)

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    Matt Jenson
    in

    Fred Sanders and Matt Jenson had a blast engaging with two books on the Trinity a while back, so Jenson and Greg Peters decided they’d have a conversation about a couple books by Hans Boersma, in which he seeks to rehabilitate a sacramental ontology. In the first book, Nouvelle Théologie and Sacramental Ontology: A Return to Mystery (Oxford University…

  • Doctrine or Problem: Wainwright on the Trinity in the New Testament

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    In 1962, Arthur W. Wainwright published The Trinity in the New Testament, a helpful one-volume treatment of a vast subject. Wipf & Stock keeps it in print, and no wonder: Wainwright handled the material so well that only a few pages in it seems dated –though it’s more than fifty years old, and there has been…

  • Unlucky Argument for Pauline Authorship of Hebrews

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    E.W. Bullinger (1837-1913) was a quirky Bible teacher. I would caution anybody against a steady diet of his books, but as long as you’re getting most of your nutrition elsewhere, a little dash of Bullinger can be a piquant spice. You can count on wild uncle Ethelbert (that’s what the E. stands for) to come…