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Though known for his systematic theology, Jonathan Edwards was essentially what we would today call a “biblical theologian,” one who sought to articulate Christian doctrine in accordance with Scripture’s chronology of salvation history. Prior to his premature death, Edwards was preparing to bring together decades of reflection on redemptive history into a book which sought … Read more
The indomitable Brilliana Harley (1598-1643) is usually remembered for her spirited defence of Brampton Bryan castle, the family home of the Harleys in Herefordshire, during a Royalist siege in the first phase of the English Civil War in the summer of 1643. But she is also the author of a significant body of letters, mostly … Read more
An eighth century illuminated manuscript of the Gospels, the Lindisfarne Gospels is one of the oldest surviving translations of the Gospels in Old English. Eadfrith, Bishop of Lindisfarne (698-721) copied the four Gospels from Jerome’s Latin Vulgate and masterfully decorated its pages beginning in circa 710. In the 950s-960s, Aldred inserted a gloss that translated … Read more
This paper proposes meditation on selected scriptures as one possible way of addressing a problem identified by the Baylor Religion Survey (2006): the disconnect, for many American Christians, between stated propositional beliefs about a benevolent God, and implicit mental models of God as angry, critical, or distant. Possible causes of this disconnect, and negative consequences … Read more
James 4:5 launches with one of the strongest citation formulae in all the New Testament: “Or do you think that in vain the Scripture says…” (ἢ δοκεῖτε ὅτι κενῶς ἡ γραφὴ λέγει…). Unfortunately, it follows with one of the most puzzling clauses in all the Bible: πρὸς φθόνον ἐπιποθεῖ τὸ πνεῦμα ὃ κατῴκισεν ἐν ἡμῖν. … Read more
Interpreters vary on the nature and significance of the superscriptions in the Psalms. Some reject their validity completely, while others believe the titles are part of the canonical text of the Psalms and, therefore, necessary for interpretation. How one understands the headings of the Psalm even has consequences for understanding key NT passages, including the … Read more
In 2017, D. A. Carson dubbed John 5:26 the “Crux Interpretum for Eternal Generation” (Sanders and Swain, eds., Retrieving Eternal Generation, 79–97). It is difficult to disagree with Carson—if, in fact, it can be established that the Father’s bestowal of ζωὴν ἐν ἑαυτῷ (“life in himself,” NIV) is a reference to a paternal grant of … Read more
The nominal κῆπος occurs three times in John 18-20 (18:1, 26; 19:41). The inclusion of κῆπος in the passion and resurrection narrative is unique to the Fourth Gospel (FG). Unlike the Synoptics, the FG explicitly mentions that the arrest, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ had taken place in a garden (κῆπος, 18:1, 26;19:41). Johannine … Read more
Social and political upheaval in the U.S. (and around the world) in recent years has brought matters of public theology back to the forefront of discussions among evangelicals, exposing afresh the complexity of this topic. One aspect of complexity is how to distinguish between approaches to the public square that may be appropriate for evangelicals … Read more
In his new book published in March 2024, Nijay Gupta said that many twentieth-century scholars of early Christian worship approached the topic with a “major methodological flaw” by assuming that modern categories of Christian worship were used in the first century. Gupta’s assessment aligns with the conclusions of my 2022 PhD dissertation, “Worship Service or … Read more