As many commentators have suggested (Douglas Moo most clearly), there is an inclusio around Romans 5-8 that shows it is a distinct unit. Below are some of the key words shared between 5:1-11 and 8:14-39, with some comments: 1) DIKAIOO: “justify”: 5:1, 9; 6:7; 8:30, 33: This verb, prominent in Rom 1-4, is used only a handful of times in this passage. Strikingly, the one time it is used between 5:9 and 8:30 is in 6:7, where it is used... Read more
This outline is the first for a series of sermons on “seasons of life.” Most of it is taken, shamelessly, from Jim Jordan’s wonderful study, From Bread to Wine , and from other things I have learned from Jim over many years. Galatians 4:1-11 INTRODUCTION The Old Testament is the story of the birth, infancy, and youth of the people of God. Yahweh directed and guided Israel toward maturity, and in doing so revealed both His methods for guiding us... Read more
Is the Green Knight in the Sir Gawain poem some kind of divine/Christ figure? Holly (green and red) is an emblem of Christ’s life-giving shedding of blood, and the Green Knight carries holly into Arthur’s court at the beginning. In fact, he becomes “holly” when he’s beheaded (blood on his green self), not to mention that he receives a death blow and lives. He’s the one who sends temptations Sir G’s way, and he’s the “judge” in the final scene... Read more
This is an excerpt from a paper I have written for a discussion of the New Perspective for the Pacific NW Presbytery of the PCA: The NPP movement first began to take shape with the publication of Sanders?E Paul and Palestinian Judaism in 1977. The bulk of Sanders?Etreatise was an examination of Second Temple Judaism, which, he claimed, had been grossly misunderstood and mischaracterized by generations of scholars. Contrary to the common portrait, which claimed that Judaism was a system... Read more
C.A. Bayly discusses the development of “imperial religions” and their globalization in his book on the Birth of the Modern World . He points out that the major world religions other than Christianity were transformed by their encounter with Christianity, and their response to that encounter. Of Hinduism in particular he writes: The Asian religions rapidly took up Christian missionaries’ methods of preaching and evangelization. In some senses, indeed, they became proselytizing religions for the first time. By 1900, the... Read more
One of the issues currently being debated in the Reformed churches is the meaning of “grace.” Some have argued that the word should be restricted to specifically redemptive gifts and favors, which means that the word properly describes only God’s saving favor and gifts toward sinners. To say that Adam was a recipient of “grace” is thus a misuse of the term, and this is seen by some as a threat to the gospel. I must confess I have a... Read more
One of the issues currently being debated in the Reformed churches is the meaning of “grace.” Some have argued that the word should be restricted to specifically redemptive gifts and favors, which means that the word properly describes only God’s saving favor and gifts toward sinners. To say that Adam was a recipient of “grace” is thus a misuse of the term, and this is seen by some as a threat to the gospel. I must confess I have a... Read more
Mary Lefkowitz ‘s Greek Gods, Human Lives: What We Can Learn from Myths was published last year, and has been a recent selection for the Conservative Book Club . Lefkowitz argues that though we no longer share ancient theology, we “still have much to learn from listening to what the ancient writers say,” and the “stories can still offer a reliable guide to life in our own time.” In particular, the myths confront us with a hard realistic view of... Read more
Victor M. Wilson’s book, Divine Symmetries , studies literary and numerological patterns in the Bible. He has a chapter on Luke-Acts, and includes some fairly standard material about the structural parallels between the two books, but draws some interesting conclusions. Here is a reproduction of his page summarizing the parallel plot of Luke and Acts: Luke Introduction and Preparation Acts 1:1-4 preface, with dedication to Theophilus 1:1-5 1:5-3:21 time of preparation 1:6-26 3:22 baptism with HS 2:1-4 4:16-30 inaugural sermon... Read more
Tom Aitken reviews The Passion of the Christ in the March 26 issue of the London Times Literary Supplement , and says everything I would want to say about the weaknesses of the film, and more. Aitken goes off track a few times when he talks about the gospels themselves, but overall the review is far and away the best I have seen. Read more
Leithart
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