Essay / Theology

Ratzinger on the Undiminished Trinity

Here’s a new book worth looking out for: The Theology of Benedict XVI: A Protestant Appreciation , ed. Tim Perry (Lexham, 2019). It’s just an interesting idea to call on Protestant witnesses to write about the theology of this very theological Pope, and Tim Perry pulled together

Essay / Theology

Class on the Third Person of the Trinity (LATC 2020)

In the spring semester —really in January 2020— I’ll be offering a short course on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit at Biola’s Talbot School of Theology. It’s a course based on the annual Los Angeles Theology Conference, and it’s the easiest course in the world

Essay / Theology

Chalcedonian Box

When I lecture on christology, I often use an illustration that I call the Chalcedonian Box. It’s a diagram that emphasizes the theological boundaries around the mystery of the incarnation. As a visual aid, the box is easy to sketch on the spot (on blackboard,

Essay / Theology

Coptic Theology with Vince Bantu (Reading Theology African)

We read a lot of classic theology from ancient Africa. By “we” I mean the students in two programs: Biola’s Torrey Honors Institute and Talbot School of Theology’s Master of Arts, Classical Theology. Both programs are very Great Booksy, driven by the reading and discussion

Essay / Theology

Providence and Divine Action Book

Here’s a new book with eleven essays on Divine Action and Providence. As co-editor of the collection, I do hereby commend it for your consideration. I don’t know of another recent book that would serve so well as an introduction to the theology of providence.

Essay / Theology

Mission Statement

My mission statement is to catalyze synergetic outputs in deliverable value propositions that innovatively embrace dynamic culture ecosystems better than my competitors. Or is that my vision statement? I can never remember. There are good mission statements out there, or least statements that avoid the

Essay / Theology

“David’s Creed”

Bishop Edward Reynolds (1599-1676) wrote a long book on a short psalm, An Exposition of the One Hundred and Tenth Psalm. One reason for the book’s length is that Reynolds found in the words of Psalm 110 the entire Christian message. To be more precise,

Essay / Education

Classical Christian General Education

The cover story of the September issue of Christianity Today is about Christian homeschoolers who read classic books by pagan authors. Yay! It’s kind of a rambling article, but the author (Lou Markos of Houston Baptist University) has some fun with the irony, or at

Essay / Education

The Bible in Socratic Instruction

This is a brief talk I gave last week during orientation for Torrey Academy, our high school program. It addresses, for one particular, local audience, an issue with broader application: how should Christian teachers handle the Bible in a course of instruction that is Socratic?

Essay / Theology

Hidden with Christ (Barth on Colossians 3:3)

Paul says in Colossians 3: So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for

Essay / Theology

The Strong Uniqueness of the Incarnation

There’s nothing like the incarnation of the Son of God. The union of divine and human in Christ is unique; it is a strongly unique kind of union. In fact, it’s so strongly unique that there is a theological tradition of highlighting its uniqueness by

Essay / Theology

Reading Barth with Kimlyn Bender

Kimlyn Bender has a fine new book out called Reading Karl Barth for the Church: A Guide and Companion. If you want to get the most out of reading Barth, but you don’t have a good teacher on hand or a class to sign up for,