Some people ask why the compilers of the biblical canon were right in including Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs in it. This concern stems from the fact that both of these books are pretty unique in the Biblical cannon and were considered somewhat controversial at times. For Christians the concern about these books has never really been a huge issue. They were included in the Septuagint, and that pretty much settled the question for many years. Then came... Read more

The book of proverbs is a deeply loved, and also deeply complicated book of the Bible. In popular culture most people seem to think that Solomon composed the book with wisdom that was given to him by God. The reason that he is credited with the book is because there is a note that the proverbs come from him in the first verse of chapter one (and also at the beginning of chapters 10 and 25). If you actually read... Read more

The books of Job and Proverbs probably were completed around the same time. Both of them present a kind of wisdom, but both of them are in tension with one another. Proverbs presents a kind of Practical wisdom. It’s the kind of stuff that common sense is made up of. On the other hand Job contains a more speculative wisdom, which is also found in Ecclesiastes. This wisdom seems to assail the practical. It lambastes the Sage of the proverbs... Read more

The following quote comes from “On the Dress of Virgins” by St. Cyprian. It discusses how one ought to spend their wealth. You say that you are wealthy and rich, and you think that you should use those things which God has willed you to possess. Use them, certainly,but for the things of salvation;  use them,  but for good purposes;  use them,  but for those things which God has commanded,and which the Lord has set forth. Let the poor feel that... Read more

  I found the lecture presented in the video below to be pretty good. Basically Tom Wright is talking about how to hear the story of the Gospel in surround sound. Basically we need to make sure that all the “speakers” are turned on and set at the right volume.  The speakers of the Gospel are: The Story of Israel coming to it’s climax (the church has continuity with Abraham, Issac, and Jacob) The story of how the God of... Read more

So fellow Chicago-land pastor, Jonathan Fisk posted this video today. In it he argues that Lutherans aren’t protestants in the same way that most people think about it. He essentially says that they are Catholics who fought to keep believing the “Gospel” instead of submitting to the Pope, who Jonathan believes subverted the Gospel by burying it under lots of false doctrines and such… As any regular reader of this blog knows, Catholics and Lutherans are two of the groups... Read more

This is a great little diagram that maps out the great commission (Matthew 28:19-20) and how it ACTUALLY functions in the Greek… Let me break it down a little for you: The command is not GO, that is simply describing what’s going on while you are doing  (it’s in an aorist, passive deponent, participle for those of you keeping score at home) there is no conjunction in the Greek denoting 2 separate commands. The actual imperative is “make disciples” (aorist,... Read more

One of the great tragedies of the reformation is the loss of history within the churches that count themselves it’s children. Within many traditions there was a movement to distance the emerging churches of the reformation from the historical continuity of the Catholic Church. People began to look exclusively at the leaders in the first century of the church’s existence for inspiration, and abandoned devotion to anyone who didn’t fall under the umbrella of the apostolic age. If the Bible... Read more

Yesterday I posted about how I need spiritual classics to help me see a God bigger then my presuppositions. [The Virtue of the Antiquated] One example of this is a spiritual classic that I read for the first time in January. The book was called The Story of a Soul. It is the record of of the life of Thérèse of Lisieux. Thérèse was a 19th century Carmelite nun. She wrote down the book that we know today at The... Read more

For much of my Christian life I have suffered from having a limited perspective. Most of my thoughts have been formed from my own perspective and social location. As a result, my theology has made a lot of sense to me. It fits well into the world of a middle-class white american male in the twenty-first century. I have seen Jesus as primarily concerned with the kinds of problems that I am concerned with and interested in my own interests.... Read more