The question of “why Christ” is neither obvious nor uninteresting. The lack of an answer that withstands the passage of time suggests that this information is not really a practical necessity. On the other hand, it is a good exercise in the importance of context, and particularly historical context, in theology and biblical studies. To the NT authors who wrote on this subject, the issue was usually framed against the requirements of their own age. Put bluntly, the law was... Read more
I recently had a very engaging discussion with a Mormon. The topic of mysteries of the gospel came up, and we mutually wondered just exactly what a mystery of the gospel might be. Is it a technical term for something more concrete or does it represent something abstract? (more…) Read more
FaithHopeLove, who is more covert than emeritus these days, asked about the identity of the spirits in 1 Pet 3:18-20: 18 For Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the spirit. 19 In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, 20 who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited... Read more
Well, it’s June 6, 2006. The rest of the world is running around trying to calculate the number of the beast, but I want to ask a different question. How do you translate this number into a language spoken by folks who use only the digits “one” and “two,” or perhaps just “one” and then an expression for “many?” Read more
One of the most widely quoted verses in Paul’s letters is the condemnation of Rom 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Although we usually focus on the idea that all have sinned, the fact that all have sinned is simply what leads to the really bad news: we do not now enjoy the glory of God. In this post, the sixth in the series, we examine God’s restoration of man to glory as... Read more
Just before Easter, J. Stapley made this comment in response to an invitation issued to readers of New Cool Thang to participate in an Easter brainstorming session on the work of Christ: …I think that Joseph Smith was clear in the last months of his life that the Atonement was for God as well as Man. This is supported by the Book of Mormon – “that he might succor his people.” “The Spirit knoweth all things, nevertheless the Son of... Read more
I see from a Salt Lake Tribune article found here, written by Peggy Fletcher Stack, that the RS has caught the attention of some folks in Iraq. Joan Betros, director of women’s and children’s family television programming for Iraqi Media Network, introduced the RS idea to an Iraqi colleage who reacted enthusiastically. The upshot is a nonprofit, nonreligious organization called FUTURE, that is, Families United Toward Universal Respect. Two things struck me when reading the article. The first is the... Read more
First, I must apologize for the long delay between the first and second installments of this series. I got busy and lazy simultaneously (a rather easy thing to accomplish, really) and I was stalling for time as my thoughts coalesced. Here’s hoping what we got was distilled rather than excreted. In the first installment, we surveyed the information that we have regarding the nature of Satan’s plan. There are two points on which all theories regarding the plan of the... Read more
Justification is one of the most prominent of Paul’s ten great metaphors and it’s also probably the best-known one as well. In this light, I think that I’ll try to move past an assumed understanding of justification by touching on three topics: 1) The pre-Pauline roots of justification 2) Baptism and justification 3) Works of the law and justification (more…) Read more
One of the questions I get asked when talking about the effects of the Christ-event has to do with whether this avenue of approach is fruitful outside of the Paulines. The fact is, the entire NT pretty uniformly teaches Jesus in terms of what he did/does/will do. This time we’ll take a couple of examples from Mark. (more…) Read more
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