In the current issue of Mars Hill audio magazine, Ken Myers, quoting from Craig Gay, makes the important point that modernity is defined not so much by its aspiration to control as by the means it uses to achieve control. Instead of seeking to control reality with magic or prayer, as some “traditional” societies might do, moderns employ technical and rational means to manipulate reality. Read more
In his Postmodernism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford), Christopher Butler points out that postmodern art and postmodern theory arose at different times and had different sources of inspiration. Postmodernism in art is evident in the postwar period as art becomes “deliberately less unified, less obviously ‘masterful,’ more playful or anarchic, more concerned with the processes of our understanding than with the pleasures of artistic finish or unity, less inclined to hold a narrative together, and certainly more resistant to a... Read more
Full Disclosure: I’m always borrowing from James Jordan, but this outline borrows from him more than most. INTRODUCTION We tend to read the Bible as if it were only about God working out our salvation from sin. But that is too narrow an understanding of God’s purposes in creation. As James Jordan has put it, the Bible is salvation history, an account of holy war, and the story of the maturation of man into glory. THE TEXT “Therefore we must... Read more
Prayer has an effect in the same way that all other causes have their effect. Prayer is just as much a cause as any other secondary causes in creation. Do you believe that hitting a ball with a bat causes the ball to fly through the air? But how can the bat cause the ball to fly if God predestined everything? The bat was completely unnecessary, right? No. God ordained for the ball to fly; but He ordained that you... Read more
Matthew 7:11: If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him. We have been looking this morning at how our prayers fit into God’s sovereign government of all things. But underlying that question is the more basic question about God. What kind of God do we pray to? Is God a distant tyrant, running the universe for... Read more
When he talks about prayer, Calvin emphasizes that everything in Scripture encourages us to pray. Our condition encourages us to pray: We have no good in ourselves, no hope for salvation in our own efforts; and therefore we must seek help from outside ourselves. The gift of Jesus encourages us to pray: God has freely offered Himself to us through His Son, and commands us to seek everything good only in Him. Prayer is the natural and necessary expression of... Read more
Assuming that Matthew was composed very early in the history of the church – in the early 30s, I suspect – it fits neatly into the early persecution situation of the church. As a retelling of Israel’s history, it mimics Stephen’s sermon, which presents the history of Israel as a history of rejecting those whom the Lord sent. Jesus assumes various roles in Matthew – the law giver, the Sage, the apocalyptic prophet – and the Jews do to Him... Read more
Albert Wolters suggests in an old Calvin Theological Journal article that Peter’s phrase “partakers of divine nature” should be understood covenantally, rather than ontologically. “Partaker” should be rendered “partner” and “divine nature” is simply a circumlocution for “God.” We become partners with God when we are delivered from the world. Read more
David Daube suggests in his book on the New Testament and rabbinic Judaism that the image of the Spirit “overshadowing” Mary is ultimately drawn from the image of Boaz covering Ruth with the wing of his garment. The Lord spreads his skirt over Mary – who, like Ruth, calls herself the maidservant – in order to give birth to the true Obed, the true Servant. Read more
The story of Israel is the story of her repeated rejection of Yahweh’s emissaries, and thus of Yahweh himself. The gospel is the announcement that Yahweh will not allow Himself to be rejected: Resurrection is the I in the TULIP. Jacob, the first Israel, wrestled with everyone, and found he was wrestling with God. Israel, his people, wrestled, but unlike Jacob wrestled in rebellion against the Lord’s servants. The surprise of the gospel story is that Israel finds she has... Read more
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