The doctrine of God the Father and God’s fatherhood has been largely neglected in contemporary Western Christianity. Although some scholars such as Thomas Smail, Gerald Bray, Fred Sanders, Ryan L. Rippee, and others recognize this neglection, few have traced its causes. This paper attempts to provide a theological and historical diagnosis for this particular symptom … Read more
Thomas’ Smail’s provocatively titled book, The Forgotten Father, claims that both the Jesus movement and the charismatic movement eclipse a theology of God the Father, thus, he is forgotten. T.F. Torrance believes Smail is correct and seeks to correct this forgetting by offering deep reflection on God the Father. As helpful as Torrance is, his … Read more
This paper explores the bookends of Scripture in terms of the beatific vision, that is, the future blessed sight of God. Scripture begins with the powerful goodness of God on display in creation and the invitation for humans to participate in the tree of life (Gen 1-2), and it ends with humans seeing God’s face … Read more
When it comes to natural theology, one must distinguish between different models within the broader project or discipline. As recent scholarship has noted, at least two main models exist within the Christian tradition: pre-dogmatic and dogmatic models of natural theology (Sudduth). On the one hand, a pre-dogmatic model of natural theology offers rational argumentation as … Read more
Dogmatic reflection on the Holy Spirit is generally occupied with his work in redemption, specifically, in the application of Christ’s benefits to the redeemed. And if one turns from this gracious work of the Spirit ad extra to reflect on his eternal relation in the Godhead, we discover historically that notions of “Love” and/or “Gift” … Read more
One topic of concern in the field of Science and Theology, especially in discussions of evolution, has to do with the human-animal distinction. It is quite common for theologians in this field to reduce or eliminate this distinction. The result of this elimination is that many theologians argue that animals are therefore in need of … Read more
In the past few decades, there have been a number of authors who have engaged in discussions of animal theology. Much of this engagement has been from outside the evangelical theological community, and also has been from an engagement between science and theology. Moreover, the theological arguments usually lack a consistent biblical foundation. The thesis … Read more
In his 2022 book, What is Saving Faith? Reflections on Receiving Christ as a Treasure, John Piper proposes that saving faith—which could be described as the initial faith by which we are justified and which perseveres to final salvation—by its very nature, contains spiritual affections. He begins by explain what he is considering, “I am … Read more
Evangelicalism’s relationship to the theology of broader Christendom is decidedly asymmetric. Whereas evangelicals are occasionally willing to read and use the work a diverse set of scholars, these scholars, in general, do not employ evangelical theology with the same readiness. There are many reasons for such lack of reciprocity, but one that is frequently unrecognized … Read more
The aim of this paper is to clarify the meaning of the Reformed doctrine of concupiscence with a view to answering the personal and pastoral question: Is concupiscence something we should mourn or something of which we should repent? The impetus for this paper lies in the fact that, in recent years, the doctrine of … Read more