Archives for “Theology”

Daniel Kirk at Storied Theology has a great post up in which he’s critical of an article in the current Christianity Today theme this month by J. I. Packer and Gary A. Parrett in praise of catechism. Now I must say, since we’re attending a Presbyterian church now (I’m actually serious), my kids have recently been learning the [...] Related posts:

  1. My love affair with theology
  2. In Luther’s footsteps
  3. The place of God’s providence in my theology


Recently I mentioned to some friends the fact that Mark 16.9-20 should not be used as a proof text for anything given the near certainty that it was a later addition to Mark. One close friend responded that he’d give the benefit of the doubt to that passage under the professed belief that the Church has been using it for [...] Related posts:

  1. The Bible and the need for proof
  2. History and faith
  3. Thinking “Outside the Box” about the Bible


All right, here’s a rant for you. There’s a news story circulating about the well-known fact that homeschooling texts are ignoring or even (the audacity!) criticizing mainstream science in favor of creationism. The usual suspects have emerged to show their disgust of the benighted institution of homeschooling. There’s a poll up at MSNBC asking the question, [...] Related posts:

  1. Why the debate over creationism matters
  2. Homeschooling and agendas
  3. Florida science standards dethrone God! Details at 11


Under the typical Protestant understanding of “faith” as “not doubting something that one believes without proof”, I as a young Protestant could never fathom why God would be so tickled by us believing in what we had almost no evidence for. This question came home to me most clearly whenever I heard informal apologetics arguing [...] Related posts:

  1. An (ancient) introduction to “faith in Christ” vs. “Christ’s faith”
  2. Defining faith in Hebrews 11.1
  3. Campbell: what did Paul mean by “justified”?


Originally inspired by this recent post by Doug Chaplin, I exhumed a paper I wrote in third year Greek while an undergrad (I estimate this to be c. 2000-2001). As a segue between my last post and my next, I thought I’d present it here with minimal edits. Please realize that the scholarship within this [...] Related posts:

  1. More on what NT faith is about
  2. Defining faith in Hebrews 11.1
  3. How do you know you’re in the faith?


I have always thought that Hebrews 11.1 sounded beautiful, with a mystical air to it: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (KJV) Some of the mystery surrounding it resulted from its sounding so much like a riddle: a verse whose first few words signal a definition (“Now faith [...] Related posts:

  1. More on what NT faith is about
  2. An (ancient) introduction to “faith in Christ” vs. “Christ’s faith”
  3. How do you know you’re in the faith?


The most dangerous shyster is the one who has convinced himself to believe his own pitch. Over at The Creation of an Evolutionist, Mike is continuing to blog through his weekly viewing of The Truth Project. He just completed Lesson Five. More so than the previous lessons, Lesson 5 focused on a critique of mainstream science, [...] Related posts:

  1. Thinking “Outside the Box” about the Bible
  2. The return of the evolutionist — for real this time!
  3. When Christianity undervalues truth


This is long for a “quote of the day,” but it’s so well stated that I couldn’t resist. It’s from an article by Kenton Sparks, author of God’s Word in Human Words: An Evangelical Appropriation of Critical Biblical Scholarship. When the cosmos is understood in this way—as divine speech to humanity—then it is no longer possible [...] Related posts:

  1. The nature of inspiration and the purpose of Scripture
  2. Finding God’s hand in Scripture
  3. The authority of Scripture


I have recently been asked what I would consider a “liberal” Christian. Well, for one thing, although I buck at calling myself as a liberal Christian, I recognize that I am more “liberal” than many others on certain issues. I think from a typical evangelical POV, a “liberal Christian” is thought of as not caring enough [...] Related posts:

  1. History and faith
  2. Herman who? Someone every Christian needs to know
  3. N.T. Wright on “unfaithful”, “flat” readings of Genesis


I’d like to address a question to a group that is, on the whole, unlikely to frequent my blog: those who would characterize themselves as conservative Christians. Whether you were brought up in Christianity or accepted it later in life, the chances are overwhelming that you weren’t just taught to accept Jesus as Lord: you were sold an entire [...] Related posts:

  1. The Truth Project and critical thinking
  2. History and faith
  3. The place of fear in our bibliology


My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God. Some charismatics take these words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 2.4-5 to reinforce their emphasis on charismatic acts such [...] Related posts:

  1. Christian responsibility according to St. Paul
  2. Campbell: what did Paul mean by “justified”?


Dr. Enns has recently reminded us that the Ancient Near East conceptualized the beginning of creation as a battle between order and disorder, the gods vs. chaos. We see the chaos of the natural world represented as an antagonist in the Genesis cosmogony. The forces of chaos are never quite given the dignity of a [...] Related posts:

  1. Why Genesis 1 was written
  2. N.T. Wright on “unfaithful”, “flat” readings of Genesis
  3. Contextual interpretation in Genesis: Cain’s mark


On a cue from Philip Harland, I found this remarkable passage showing an example of the perception that some pagans entertained of mid-second century Christians. It’s not pretty: [Cynics and Christians] divide and upset the household, and bring into collision those inside with each other, and tell them the worst ways to manage their household. They [...] Related posts:

  1. What the first century church really looked like
  2. Not historic, orthodox Christianity
  3. Levity as Leaven in Today’s Church


A commenter on the previous post raised an interesting point that leads me into something I’ve been wanting to explore here. He wrote: I don’t see why it would be logically necessary that [the Bible] is 100% true. However, if we allow that it isn’t, then how are we to determine which parts are true? There is [...] Related posts:

  1. The Bible and the need for proof
  2. The Bible’s text has a history
  3. The Truth Project and critical thinking


In his latest post, Mike mentions a Facebook conversation with someone puzzled by his rejection of inerrancy; I was involved with the conversation as well. As Mike described, this individual raised the common IYCBIAYCTAOI objection (if-you-can’t-believe-it-all-you-can’t-trust-any-of-it), asking, “Why do you believe the Bible is true?” I responded by asking, “What makes you think it’s necessary that [...] Related posts:

  1. Thinking “Outside the Box” about the Bible
  2. History and faith
  3. The Bible made flesh


My friend Mike Beidler’s not busy enough being a military diplomat in the Middle East right now. You know, things going so swimmingly, he doesn’t have anything at all to do. Since he’s been over there, he’s joined a group that is watching Focus on the Family’s film series The Truth Project that seeks to [...] Related posts:

  1. The Truth Project and critical thinking
  2. The place of God’s providence in my theology
  3. Lamoureux: links and labels


Using an analogy especially interesting to me as an historical linguist, Sabio Lantz at Triangulations reminds us of the power of understanding that the Christian faith isn’t quite as unique as we all like to think: We often see that naive mono-linguists think their language is unique in its ability to express deep thoughts. Well of [...] Related posts:

  1. The Truth Project and critical thinking
  2. The place of fear in our bibliology
  3. Proving Christianity with inerrancy


I think Paul gives us a somewhat unexpected answer in 2 Corinthians. I’ll return to the subject of this post after a (possibly irrelevant) discursus here. This morning in Sunday School we went over a passage in the last chapter of 2 Corinthians. Throughout the epistle, Paul makes repeated references to the fact that some of [...] Related posts:

  1. History and faith
  2. The Bible and the need for proof
  3. An (ancient) introduction to “faith in Christ” vs. “Christ’s faith”


Here’s an excerpt from the first part of a review of a book I’ve been interested in since I first heard about it. It’s from the New Perspective school of thinking, and at 1218 pages it promises to be an important work on the subject. The book is entitled, The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic [...] Related posts:

  1. An (ancient) introduction to “faith in Christ” vs. “Christ’s faith”
  2. Christian responsibility according to St. Paul
  3. More on what NT faith is about


The BioLogos Foundation hits another home run by soliciting and sharing this gem: Bishop of Durham Tom Wright, while no fundie, is generally regarded among scholars and many evangelicals as fairly conservative in his theological outlook (e.g., he affirms an historical Fall of some kind), so this is good to hear from him. I found it [...] Related posts:

  1. Why Genesis 1 was written
  2. Chaos in Genesis and Germanic mythology
  3. Indiana Jones and the Fall of Man


Ok, I promised to write stuff I find interesting as I go through my diss research, so here’s a couple thoughts I had tonight as I was researching. These will doubtless seem somewhat stream-of-consciousness, so I apologize in advance for any seasickness that results from an attempt on your part to read through the meandering [...] Related posts:

  1. Editorial fatigue : author :: progressive latitude : translator
  2. Dialectology and the Gospels
  3. Help wanted: critical editions of the Gospels


William Dembski, a father of the Intelligent Design movement, has recently become comfortable calling himself an old earth creationist who, as a good Baptist, accepts the historicity of Adam and Eve. This comes as no surprise really, but it’s interesting to see how his gears turn as he systematically lays all his cards on the [...] Related posts:

  1. Theodicy and evolution
  2. Lamoureux: links and labels
  3. My position on the origins question


A reader wrote in recently and asked some really good questions about my eschatology, which I have described on this blog as preteristic. Preterism is the belief that all (or most) of the eschatological expectations of the writers of Scripture were directed at the events culminating in the destruction of the Jerusalem and the Jewish [...] Related posts:

  1. You contribute: is Jesus coming back?
  2. Is full preterism a new doctrine? (revised)
  3. Why eschatology matters


This story is certainly making the rounds around the blogosphere, but I can’t pass it up, particularly because I have some things to say about it I haven’t read elsewhere. I thought I’d link to one of the better reactions I read (be sure to read the whole thing): An Associated Press story this weekend fetes [...] Related posts:

  1. Evolution and evangel(ical)ism
  2. How true Christians live


The other night, a friend and I reiterated our independent observations that, despite all nuances, what ultimately stands behind most of American Christianity’s implacable dedication to inerrancy is fear. Dr. Jim Kidder, in so many words, makes the same point. The following quote certainly rings familiar. For many people, this is not a scientific issue, it is a moral [...] Related posts:

  1. The Truth Project and critical thinking
  2. History and faith
  3. When Christianity undervalues truth