The Scriptorium Daily

Category: Theology

  • Martin Bucer, Some Kind of Protestant

    —

    by

    Fred Sanders
    in ,

    Today (November 11) is the birthday of Martin Bucer (1491-1551). An important Reformer, he did his work in a no-man’s land between what would become the stable confessions and denominations of later decades. This is one of the reasons he is not frequently remembered. Though he influenced the Lutherans, the Reformed, and the Anglicans, he…

  • Claude Welch, 1922-2009

    —

    by

    Fred Sanders
    in

    Claude Welch, eminent historian of nineteenth-century theology, died on November 6. Claude was an institutional pillar of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, where I got my PhD. In their obituary, the GTU lists his terms of service to the school. He was Dean and President from 1971 to 1982, and Dean from 1982 to…

  • Names for the Nameless

    —

    by

    Fred Sanders
    in

    There is a delightfully quirky entry by Bruce Metzger in the Oxford Companion to the Bible, entitled “Names for the Nameless.” (pp. 546-548) It is a report on characters in the Bible whose names are not provided. Metzger notes that “through the ages, readers of the Bible have felt the need to identify some of…

  • How the Trinity Freed the Slaves (Happy Birthday Granville Sharp)

    —

    by

    Fred Sanders
    in , ,

    Today (November 10) is the birthday of Granville Sharp (1735-1813). Sharp is remembered for two major accomplishments. First, you will find his name in every history of the abolition of the slave trade. His involvement began when he met a man named Jonathan Strong, a slave from Barbados who had been beaten so badly that…

  • “Accomplished and Applied” in the Apostles’ Creed

    —

    by

    Fred Sanders
    in

    The Apostles’ Creed has three articles, one for each person of the Trinity. The first article, on God the Father Almighty, is very short. He created heaven and earth. Much more could be said, but it isn’t said. The second article is the longest, because it tells the story of Jesus: conceived by the Spirit,…

  • Erasmus, Born to Bring Back Literature

    —

    by

    Fred Sanders
    in , ,

    Today (October 27) is the birthday of Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, known simply as Erasmus, famous in his own time as Mr. Renaissance. He was “born to bring back literature,” his contemporaries said of him: ad restituendas literas natus. The Renaissance was a defining event in Western intellectual history, precisely because it looked back into antiquity…

  • Lewis Bayly and the Practice of Trinitarian Piety

    —

    by

    Fred Sanders
    in ,

    We don’t know when Lewis Bayly was born, but he died on this day (October 26) in 1631. Who was Lewis Bayly? It’s a little sad that almost nobody knows anymore. Bayly is an unjustly forgotten spiritual treasure. He was the author of a book called The Practice of Piety, one of the best-selling and…

  • What is Grace?

    —

    by

    Matt Jenson
    in

    What is grace? A word used so indiscriminately in casual conversation, and often enough in theological exposition, can threaten to lose all significance. Here is a simple, but comprehensive definition: Grace is the effective presence of the triune God to pardon and empower. Let’s unpack that a bit. First, grace is effective presence. That is,…

  • The Peace of Westphalia

    —

    by

    Fred Sanders
    in , ,

    Today (October 24) in 1648 the Treaty of Münster was signed. Together with the signing of an earlier treaty, this event is known as the Peace of Westphalia. It brought a resolution to the terrible conflicts we call the “wars of religion,” chiefly the Thirty Years’ War. Peace is good and war is bad –the…

  • Happy First Day of Creation

    —

    by

    Fred Sanders
    in , ,

    Today, October 23, is the day the world was made, a little over six thousand years ago. It was a Saturday night. It happened late in the day, at the time of day we would call nightfall once there was a night to fall. Archbishop James Ussher, Anglican Bishop of Armagh, is remembered these days…

  • T.R.I.U.N.E. God

    —

    by

    Fred Sanders
    in

    The main reason the doctrine of the Trinity can be difficult for inquirers to grasp, or for believers to get comfortable with, is that it contains so many ideas within itself. It is a doctrine that summarizes vast stretches of biblical revelation, integrates them, and holds them together so they can be taken in at…

  • The End of Paul Tillich’s Life

    —

    by

    Fred Sanders
    in ,

    Today (October 22) is the day Paul Tillich (1886–1965) died. Tillich is one of America’s most famous theologians, but he’s co-owned by the Germans. He came to America in the 1930s after having spoken out decisively against Hitler. Tillich taught at Union Seminary, Harvard, and Chicago, and ruled the roost of academic theology in America…