The “mythical Jesus” view doesn’t have any traction among the overwhelming number of scholars. Read more

It’s not every day that you have a Disney movie, or any movie about Dias Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, much less a movie mostly set in the land of the dead, which raises all sorts of questions about the after life. What few will know is that this theology of the afterlife goes back to pagan antiquity, and was brought over into the Christian religion by Gentiles. This whole early history of such ideas is helpfully chronicled... Read more

For the full story, cut and paste this link into your browser… “http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2017/november/do-scientific-tests-support-claims-that-a-jerusalem-church-holds-the-tomb-of-jesus” “It’s corroborating what the historical accounts are telling us,” Kristin Romey, archaeology editor for National Geographic, told CBN News. “Around 325-326 A.D., Constantine sends his delegation to the Holy Land to find the site associated with the life and death of Jesus,” she explained. “According to the historical accounts, they’re asking around, and they’re saying… ‘Where was the tomb of Jesus Christ?'” “And the locals point to... Read more

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So just in time for Christmas, I regale you with some of the latest Maker’s Mark ads from those denizens of bourbon down in Bardstown. The one above seems remarkably apt for this province. But there is more…. for example…. And if you’re into literary allusions to a famous writer who was also a famous cleric in Dublin, about whom we wrote earlier this year on this blog…… consider this one….. And just in time for Christmas, I’m putting on... Read more

Ben. It seems very ironic indeed that while various of the members of the NPP spend a lot of energies trying to suggest that by works of the law, Paul’s focus is primarily if not exclusively on ‘the ceremonies’ i.e. circumcision, Sabbath keeping etc. whereas the Reformers say no, the phrase works of the Law is not a criticism of ethnocentric ceremonies, it is a critique of the whole Law which cannot justify. It seems as though these folks are... Read more

Ben. Probably the majority of those who have written a commentary on Romans in the last 30-40 years have concluded that Rom. 7.7-25 is not about Paul’s autobiography, nor about the state of the Christian life (even Moo). It is a Christian view of a non-Christian situation. This of course is the direct opposite of Luther’s take on Romans 7, and in the last 50 years, only Cranfield has really strongly agreed with him. What is your take on this... Read more

Ben. It would appear that you see the NPP’s positive contribution to our Pauline discourse chiefly to be in emphasizing that an anti-Semitic reading of Paul will not do. At the same time, you are right to point out not only that Judaism was not a religion that lacked a theology of grace, nor was it fundamentally legalistic in character. But you also think the NPP is wrong if and when it says ‘works of the law’ refer to the... Read more

Ben. It seems rather ironic to me with all of the emphasis, especially in Luther and Calvin on being ‘in Christ’ that little time seems to be taken to deal with the fact that what this phrase often means is not union of the individual with Christ himself, but rather ‘being in the body of Christ’. For instance, in 1 Cor 12 we hear that by one Spirit we are all baptized into the one body of Christ, and all... Read more

Ben. Trying to pin down Luther’s view of Christ’s alien righteousness is more than a little difficult. Sometimes he seems to be talking as if the believer has as his Siamese twin, Christ. They are joined together at the hip, but all the righteousness is in the twin, and none of it is in the believer who still is stuck with being in bondage to sin. On the other hand, when Luther does talk about ‘Christ in us, the hope... Read more