Category: Theology
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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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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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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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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…
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What You Can Learn from Calvin and Hobbes about the Message and the Medium
Anybody who has a message that they care about communicating should pay attention to the great lesson taught by Calvin and Hobbes: The lesson is that not every message can be communicated in every medium. Yes, I mean Bill Watterson’s comic strip about the tiger and his boy, not the theologian and the philosopher. The…
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Layers and Layers of Biblical Witness
I recently ran across a helpful list of layered biblical passages; passages that are themselves summaries, or theologically-informed overviews, of previous sections of Scripture. Some of them you can recognize from a glance at the chapter and verse; others you’ll need to look up. Here’s the list w/links and memory-jogging snippets: Deuteronomy 6:20-25 What to tell…
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We Can See the Meaning, Though We Cannot Exhaust It
Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: ~Ephesians 1:8, 9 Verses 8-10 take us into very deep water, but the water is clear and we can see the meaning though we cannot…
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Gnostic on Purpose (Austin Farrer)
Anglican theologian Austin Farrer (1904-1968) was brilliant and/but/because idiosyncratic. The book A Hawk Among Sparrows: A Biography of Austin Farrer by Philip Curtis (London: SPCK, 1985) documents a volatile early phase of his thinking that is instructively peculiar. During this phase, Farrer played with a few ideas that he never directly published about, so Curtis’ detailed intellectual…
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James Gray on Mastering the Bible
James M. Gray (1851-1935) was one of the most famous Bible teachers of the early 20th century. He was a key player in the generation that established the Bible institute movement, serving as dean/president of Moody Bible Institute for more than two decades. He had worked alongside Dwight L. Moody, and was academically qualified to…