Q. I think it’s beyond cavil that various of the patristic fathers believed in propitiation and you’ve shown this quite well. I do wish you had dealt with Chrysostom as he is the best of the expositors of Paul’s thought in my judgment, and the best of the exegetes as well. But the ransom to Satan is problematic. God doesn’t owe Satan anything! He never did and never does. It seems to me that this involves an over-pressing of the... Read more
Q. I appreciate your strong advocacy that the NT teaches that Christ died for all not just for the elect, but also that not all receive the benefits of his death if they do not place faith in Christ. Forgiveness and redemption offered is not the same as forgiveness and redemption received. As you say, Paul is not a universalist in the sense that all will be saved, but he is a universalist in the sense that all can be... Read more
Q. One of the issues raised in your last exegetical chapter is the difference between someone being a substitute for another and someone being the representative of another. These ideas seem to be regularly fused or confused. Can you help the readers understand the importance of this distinction as it applies to the work of Christ? A. A substitute takes the place of another person but does not represent him, e.g., a pinch hitter in baseball. A representative acts on... Read more
I’ve been a big fan of Benedict Cumberbatch for a long time, but honestly, this is hands down the best acting I’ve ever seen from him. And he is not the only one who is superb in this film. So is Merab Nindze who plays Oleg Penkovsky as the Soviet trying to head off nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia. Both men deserve to be nominated for a best actor Oscar for this performance. Rachel Brosnahan and Jessie Buckley... Read more
Q. One place where we seem to diverge fairly significantly, if I am reading you correctly, is in regard to the imputation issue. Nothing is said in Romans about the imputation of Christ’s own righteousness (whether through his general obedience to God or more specifically his obedience by death of the cross) to the believer. The subject in Romans is the righteousness of God the Father, and this is simply not the same thing as Christ’s righteousness. God the Father... Read more
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