More on John 5

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:10 am By Peter Leithart

Some additional notes on John 5, largely indebted to Gary Burge’s NIV Application commentary. It has been said that the synoptic gospels ?EMatthew, Mark, and Luke ?Eare essentially passion narratives with long introductions. That is not really a fair way to describe what goes on in the synoptics, and this certainly does not apply to the John?s gospel. Of course, John?s gospel ends with the story of Jesus?Etrial, sufferings, and death, but in John?s gospel particularly, the trial begins much... Read more

Judgment and the Gift of Life

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:45 pm By Peter Leithart

In John 5, Jesus claims that His authority to pass judgment and His power and raise the dead both come from the Father. How are these two prerogatives related? Are they identical? Does Jesus give life and condemn to death in passing judgment? It seems that this is possible: 1) The sequence from verse 21-22 appears to who that the Father giving judgment to the Son is equivalent to the Father providing life-giving power to the Son. Verse 21 states... Read more

Feminist Theology

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:41 pm By Peter Leithart

A few thoughts after listening to student presentations on feminist theology all morning. (I know, BTW, that there are all sorts and conditions of feminist theology.) 1) Rosemary Reuther says that Jesus’ maleness is an “accident,” on par with the accident of His Jewishness or the fact that he was a carpenter. But this is a HUGE claim. It implies that all redemptive history is similarly “accidental.” Once God had created the world, bringing Eve out of Adam, the trajectory... Read more

Imputation

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:44 pm By Peter Leithart

Luther writes (Commentary on Gal 2:20), “Christ and I must be joined together so that He lives in me and I in Him – and what a wonderful way of speaking that is. For because He lives in me, whatever there is in me of grace, righteousness, life, peace, salvation is all His but in such a way that it is mine through this inseparable union and conjunction which I have with Him through faith. Through this faith Christ and... Read more

Regeneration

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:03 am By Peter Leithart

Calvin uses “regeneration” to describe the process of mortification and vivification by which the sinner is renewed in the image of God. This differs from the sense the word has in later Reformed writers. Melanchthon ( Apology for the Augsburg Confession ) uses the word in yet another sense: “we are justified by faith alone, justification being understood as making an unregenerate man righteous or effecting his regeneration” (4.78). And “to be ‘justified’ means to make unrighteous men righteous or... Read more

Grace

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:43 pm By Peter Leithart

Robert Preus has a refreshingly unreconstructed chapter on divergent views on grace in his 1997 Justification and Rome . He asks why recent Catholic-Protestant dialogues have not addressed the issue of grace more directly, and claims that the affirmation that “justification is by grace” has quite a different meaning in Lutheran as opposed to Catholic contexts. Here are some of the specifics of his discussion: 1) He argues that medieval scholastics erred in treating the doctrine of grace after their... Read more

Audubon

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:46 pm By Peter Leithart

There’s a fascinating review of Richard Rhodes’ recent biography of Audubon in the Dec 6 issue of The Weekly Standard . The reviewer has this to say about the “pervasive strangeness ” of Audubon’s art: “Audubon’s most powerful compositions (with few exceptions, such as the regal wild turkey cock and the incomparable bursting galaxy of Carolina parakeets) are his depictions are avian predators and their prey. There is something undeniably grotesque and slightly distorted about these paintings, particularly the raptors.... Read more

Abraham and Justification

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:45 pm By Peter Leithart

Martin Chemnitz provides an intriguing discussion of Abraham’s justification in his classic Examination of the Council of Trent . He pinpoints the debate between Protestant and “papalist” as follows: The issue is whether the ground of our justification is found in our post-regeneration works or in an alien righteousness of Christ alone. He recognizes that Abraham was already a believer long before the events recorded in Genesis 15: in Romans 4, “Paul sets forth an example of justification of all... Read more

Eternal Father, Sermon Notes, Third Sunday in Advent

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:36 pm By Peter Leithart

INTRODUCTION According to Jesus?Econsistent testimony, the Father sent Jesus into the world (John 3:34; 5:24, 30; 7:28-29; 15:21; 16:5; 17:3). Jesus didn?t come to protect us from an overbearing and hostile Father. He came in obedience to the Father?s commission. In fact, everything Jesus did manifests the Father (John 5:19-20), so that when we see Jesus we see the Father (John 14:7, 9). The Father?s love and self-giving are revealed in Jesus?Elove and self-giving. Yet, the Father whom Jesus revealed... Read more

KMart-Sears

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:46 pm By Peter Leithart

The Weekly Standard parody of the KMart-Sears merger (Nov 29) is too rich. The parody is a letter purporting to be from a market researcher to the KMart board of directors. Here’s a couple of samples: “We recently received the preliminary report from our $30-million, 5-year contract with ImagInc, who have determined that both Kmart and Sears, Roebuck enjoy broad name recognition. By retaining the prominent ‘K’ of Kmart and contractint ‘Sears’ and ‘Roebuck’ into one word ?EK-Suck ?Ewe will... Read more