This is the last of a series of posts on Richard Middleton’s book A New Heaven and a New Earth.  His argument thus far has been that Scripture teaches a holistic redemption of creation. The biblical Christian hope is not for some disembodied heavenly hereafter but for a material existence in a redeemed and consummated creation. This Christian hope has consequences for the gospel message and for the now and future kingdom of God. To develop the ethic of the... Read more

The re-posting of this this post from 2009 was triggered by a recent letter from a reader who in the Far West is struggling with the rise — autocratically, non-congregationally, without consultation — of Calvinism, complementarianism, and other themes in her church by the NeoReformed. Yes, the usuals got mentioned (Piper, Driscoll). I went back to 2009 to this post to see what I said then and want to propose that set of ideas, with many modifications and additions and... Read more

There are two options when a member of any of the world’s major religions hears about persecution of its own members: strike back by persecuting the persecutor or tolerance. Contrary to what many believe about even the most exclusive of the world’s religions, Miroslav Volf contends the world’s major religions have within them the resources for tolerance. We are looking at the new and important book Flourishing: Why We Need Religion in a Globalized World. As I have said, Volf is... Read more

Anyone familiar with the Synoptic Gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke — who then launches for the first time into the Gospel of John, or anyone familiar with the Gospel of John who launches into the Synoptic Gospels encounters a culture shock: John and the Synoptics are noticeably different. Those who think like the Synoptics wonder what has happened to their vocabulary and pet themes when they hit John, and it works the other way too. James D.G. Dunn, in Neither Jew... Read more

Thanks to my friend Tom Ward, Jesus Creed found its way to Pakistan. Read more

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. BCP Read more

Once again, Roberto A. Ferdman: Food waste has met its most innovative opponent yet, a new supermarket in Denmark, where the vegetables are dirt cheap—and too ugly or old to sell elsewhere. WeFood, which opened in Copenhagen this week, stocks only food that is past its official expiration date or unworthy of other supermarket shelves because of aesthetic imperfections and damaged packaging. The grocer, opened by Danish NGO Folkekirkens Nødhjælp, is hoping to lure shoppers of all socioeconomic backgrounds by selling its food at... Read more

“Mr. President, I’m Clark!” Image For 3-year-old Clark Reynolds, Thursday began like most others. Morning preparations gave way to hours at school and then a visit to his mother’s office to change into a suit and tie. Clark’s mother, Nichole Francis Reynolds, is a former congressional staffer who now works in the private sector. Friends had secured an invitation for Francis Reynolds and her son to the White House’s Black History Month celebration, the final gathering of its kind while... Read more