Since the inception of the Just and Sinner podcast 164 episodes ago, I have been on Pirate Christian Radio along with a number of other Lutheran podcasts and sermons. This station has served as a wonderful resource for people looking for something to listen to that has theological substance and depth. It has been a blessing to be part of this project, and I had the privilege of speaking at the Pirate Christian Radio conference these past two years. I... Read more
On today’s program, I was joined by my wife, Lisa Cooper, to discuss birth control. We laid out a number of different perspectives on this issue from a variety of Christians, and gave reasons why each view is supported. Here is the program Read more
Those who know how bad they need grace are the best teachers of grace… pic.twitter.com/sPM2wnms0A — Tullian Tchividjian (@TullianT) March 31, 2015 Mary, one of the great saints of the church, can teach us much more. And I’ll tell you why (and in the process explain why both quotes above from Mr. Tchividjian are crying out for further clarification). It is because when Mary hears about the sinful woman, namely the following… : 36 One of the Pharisees asked him to... Read more
Don’t worry, I have not suddenly abandoned sola fide, but on today’s program I discussed some problems with James White’s recent comments on the doctrine of justification in Genesis 12-15. White purports that Abraham was not justified until the covenant cutting ceremony of Genesis 15 in light of his interpretation of Romans 4. I take him to task on several of these points, and demonstrate that justification does not have to be spoken of as only a past-tense reality. This... Read more
Post by Nathan Rinne (who, I re-iterate, is only speaking for himself on this blog) “Good God – absolutely nothing!” many will undoubtedly want to say. But wait. What is it that makes popular atheist scientist-philosophers like Michael Shermer strong Donald Trump supporters? You can listen to his own reasons, but part of it, I suggest, has to do with the idea that there are permanent and enduring things in the cosmos that cannot be fundamentally altered by our imagination... Read more
I have never been one to write extensively in my Bibles, or to do any significant amount of highlighting. The reason I haven’t done so is primarily due to the fact that the pages in a normal Bible are simply too thin to take notes without bleeding through the other page. Recently, I have been hearing quite a bit about journaling Bibles which seem to be getting more popular as of late. The other day I was at Barnes and... Read more
On today’s program, I discussed the recent joint statement of the ACNA, LCMS, and LCC which resulted from five years of ongoing theological dialogue. I discussed the similarities between Lutheranism and Anglicanism as well as the various ways in which these two traditions differ. Here is the program The full statement can be found here. Read more
The doctrine of God does not tend to be a primary issue in contemporary Lutheran theological discussions. Apart from basic Trinitarian theology, Lutheran theological journals and publications tend not to emphasize Theology Proper, and specifically the attributes of God. I think there are a number of reasons for this. First, Lutherans tend to avoid overt speculation, and are somewhat reticent to utilize extensive philosophical categories at the expense of clear Biblical language. Second, Christology tends to dominate the theological landscape,... Read more
Within the last two weeks, it seems that my facebook news feed has consisted almost solely of posts about Deadpool and the appropriateness of this film for the Christian viewer. On the one hand, there are some who speak about Christian liberty as if one can simply watch whatever they desire for entertainment purposes. Many have pointed to the statement of Christ that it is not what goes into, but what comes out of a person that defiles them (Matt.... Read more
On today’s program, I went back to an old series of podcasts I was doing on the ordo salutis, and discussed the doctrine of illumination. The topics and content were different than those of the recent Jacobs’s study podcast on the same topic. Here is the program Here are the previous programs in this series: The Ordo Salutis The Grace of the Holy Spirit The Call Conversion and Regeneration The discussion is largely based on Revere Franklin Weidner’s book Pneumatology, which... Read more
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