Now Yehoshafat son of ‘Asa’ reigned-as-king over Yehudah in the fourth year to ‘Achav king of Yisrael. Yehoshafat [was] a son of third and five years in his reigning-as-king. And twenty and give years he reigned-as-king in Yerushalam. Now the name of his mother, ‘Azuvah, daughter of Shilchiy. And he walked in all the way of ‘Asa’ his father. He did not turn aside from it to do the straight-thing in the eyes of Yahweh. Yet the high places he... Read more
Psalm 78:40-42: ?How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert. And again and again they tempted God, and pained the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power, the day when He redeemed them from the adversary.?E Isaiah 63:10: ?But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit.?E This Supper is a Trinitarian event. Here at this table, the Father who is kind to His children offers us the living Bread of... Read more
Love, Augustine said, is always triadic, always involves three: the lover, the one beloved, and the love itself. God is love, and this means, Augustine reasoned, that in God there is a Lover, a Beloved, and Love itself. He believed that these correspond to the Persons of the Trinity: The Father is the Lover of His beloved Son, and the Spirit is the love by which the Father loves the Son and the Son the Father. The Spirit that comes... Read more
INTRODUCTION Romans 8:31-39 is better sung than commented upon. It is a thrilling, ecstatic hymn of confident assurance that God?s purposes will be accomplished. Yet, I will attempt to comment on them. If we are to sing Paul?s hymn, let?s make sure we sing with understanding. Given the character of these verses, it?s easy and understandable that they, like Romans 8:28-30, are often cited apart from their context. But these verses of course form the climax of Paul?s discussion of... Read more
Scott Hafemann has characteristically thoughtful comments about Paul’s contrast of letter and Spirit in 2 Corinthians 3: “Paul’s contrast is not an abstract one between ‘outward’ and ‘inward,’ between ‘externality’ and ‘internality,’ between ‘ritualism’ and ‘a living experience fo the Spirit,’ or between ‘rigidity’ and ‘spontaneity,’ etc., as is often suggested. Nor is Paul making a negative statement about the nature or content o fthe law by asociating it with ‘stone,’ which seems to be the common denominator undergirding these... Read more
Philip Jenkins’ The Next Christendom is packed with stimulating historical insights. But this is one of the most striking: Most ?listings of major trends of the past century?Ehave ?rightly devoted much space to political movements like fascism and communism, but ignored vital religious currents like Pentecostalism. Yet today, Fascists or Nazis are not easy to find, and Communists may be becoming an endangered species, while Pentecostals are flourishing around the globe. Since there were only a handful of Pentecostals in... Read more
The Edda records: “The unbreakable fetters which bound down the Great Wolf Fenrir had been cunningly forged by Loki from these: the footfall of a cat, the roots of a rock, the beard of a woman, the breath of a fish, the spittle of a bird.” Who knows what that means; but ain’t it enchantin’? Read more
The Edda records: “The unbreakable fetters which bound down the Great Wolf Fenrir had been cunningly forged by Loki from these: the footfall of a cat, the roots of a rock, the beard of a woman, the breath of a fish, the spittle of a bird.” Who knows what that means; but ain’t it enchantin’? Read more
Terry Eagleton reviews a new book on The Literary Wittgenstein (edited by John Gibson and Wolfgang Huemer) in the April 29 issue of the TLS. There are a number of highlights: 1) Eagleton sets Wittgenstein firmly in the glitzy, kitchy world of Vienna. “The place,” he writes, “was a cockpit of magnificent art and appalling kitsch, glutted with waltzes, whipped cream, chocolate cake and high culture.” In reaction, Wittgenstein pursued a “monkish austerity,” eschewing material possessions and, especially in the... Read more
The notion of a “future justification” has come under criticism from some Reformed writers, though the idea has a fairly established place in Reformed thought (beginning at least with Vos). The opposition to the idea suggests that some Reformed soteriology is eschatologically schizophrenic. Consider: It seems clear that adoption is both already and not yet, and yet few would fear that future adoption at the resurrection (which is taught in Rom 8, at least by traditional interpretations) undermines the present... Read more
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