Jeremiah was a prophet in Jerusalem at the time leading up to the Babylonian captivity. He was freed from confinement by King Nebuchadnezzar and recorded the troubling reactions of the people of Judah during this cataclysmic event. Jeremiah 18:1-12 is a troublesome passage for many interpreters. Walter Moberly in Old Testament Theology: Reading the Hebrew Bible as Christian Scripture refers to this passage as “the passage whereby all other depictions of divine repentance elsewhere should be understood, when one is... Read more

So so so glad to see this in a box that arrived at the home today! Buy it here. Read more

By David Sessions the Student Minister at the Highland Church of Christ. David got his MDiv from Lipscomb and is currently in a Growing Young Cohort at Fuller Seminary. In my last post I made a bold claim that the element most contributing to the “Rise of the Nones” was traditional youth ministry. Where others might place more blame on culture (and there is a fair argument to be made) that stance fails to take into account the power of the gospel.... Read more

Scott K. Johnson: You could be forgiven for thinking that the remnants of the Earth’s first life don’t want to be found. Between geology and happenstance, the earliest life has certainly covered its tracks well. While paleontologists studying dinosaurs can sometimes bring an unambiguously gigantic femur home, those who study the origins of life are usually left arguing over the significance of microscopic motes of rock. A new discovery in northernmost Labrador, made by a team led by Takayuki Tashiro... Read more

The final chapter of the new book Adam and the Genome by Dennis Venema and Scot McKnight looks carefully at the the way at Paul uses Adam in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15. As this is really the core issue for many Christians. We looked at Scot’s first two theses concerning Paul’s use of Adam in the last post on the book (Paul’s Adam) and will look at the final three today. In what follows I summarize key parts... Read more

In his new book, Saved by Faith and Hospitality, Joshua Jipp contends for a good example of how to overcome religious tribalism, and the example he uses might surprise many today. I found the same in a book for lay folks. In fact, Jipp’s thesis gets to the heart of the mission of earliest Christianity and at the same time one of its biggest challenges. His example is the apostle Paul and he bases his very sound observations on the record... Read more

Brandon Withrow: Five-hundred years ago, a monk named Martin Luther wrote his 95 Theses and—while he likely didn’t nail it to the Wittenberg Castle Church door, as legend has it—his words launched the Protestant Reformation, setting Europe on fire—both figuratively and literally. This October 31 is the anniversary of that decisive point in history. For many Christians, this commemoration marks a dramatic shift, as never in history have old wounds between traditions felt closer to healing. “Majorities or pluralities of adults (including... Read more

By Ruth Tucker, based on her Katie Luther: The First Lady of the Reformation. “A mighty fortress is my wife” Last week I had a scheduled interview on Katie Luther with Época, Brazil’s most widely circulated news magazine. The questions Ruan Sousa asked were insightful, and as we were concluding he remarked that Luther might have used the title of his famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress,” for Katie. I laughed with delight, and said, “Now why didn’t I think of... Read more