Approved – Page 21 – Evangelical Theological Society

Gender identity cultic prostitution in ancient Mesopotamian and North-West Semitic Cultures

This paper explores the comparative material on gender identity, sexuality, and cultic prostitution within the context of ancient Mesopotamian and North-West Semitic cultures, focusing on the Inanna/Ishtar cult and Canaanite practices. The analysis delves into the enduring nature of the Ishtar cult across millennia and its syncretism with other cultures, particularly during the Greco-Roman period. … Read more

On Keeping Nicaea Ecumenical: Questioning Certain Methods in IVP’s “On Classical Trinitarianism”

Thanks to the work of Matthew Barrett, the editor of a 40-author team, InterVarsity Press has provided the church and the academy with a work of monumental theological import with the release of, On Classical Trinitarianism: Retrieving the Nicene Doctrine of the Triune God. The book is wide-ranging, covering historical, dogmatic, philosophical, and cultural concerns … Read more

Sins against Native Greek?: A Linguistic Investigation into ‘Semitisms’ in the Septuagint

The term ‘Semitism’ has long accompanied analyses of the language of the Septuagint and, by extension, of the New Testament. However, the criteria for determining a Semitism are unclear. For Moulton, Semitisms of vocabulary are nothing more than ‘correct Greek’ used with greater frequency than normal owing to ‘the accident of their answering to Hebrew … Read more

Priests of Creation: Assessing Priesthood Language for Environmental Ethics

Within Christian environmental ethics, there is a concern to carefully describe and name the role of humanity within creation in a way that promotes ecological justice. Notably, Orthodox theologians have taken up the language of “priests” to describe humanity as those to whom God gives the responsibility to care for creation, and, more specifically, to … Read more

Reexamining T. F. Torrance’s Reformed Notion of Union with Christ

It has been said that the Reformed notion of union with Christ is the central framework of T. F. Torrance’s atonement theology. Martin Davis argues that union with Christ is a heuristic, over-arching rubric for the discussion of many themes in Torrance’s soteriology, including incarnational reconciliation, the wonderful exchange, vicarious humanity, onto-relationality, faith, justification and … Read more

The Holy Spirit Proceeds Ex Patre Filioque: A Biblical and Theological Reading of John 14–17

The Council of Nicaea’s (AD 325) third article, “And in the Holy Spirit,” is a true statement. Yet, it will require further theological development in time. The Western tradition will adopt the Filioque clause from the Third Synod of Toledo (AD 589) into the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (AD 381). This inclusion accurately attests that God the … Read more

Holiness, Ḥērem, and Heavy Rain: Feeling the Affective-Narrative Strategies of Ezra 9–10

The story of the mixed marriage crisis in Ezra 9–10 has generated much emotional debate as Christian interpreters have attempted to explain the narrative’s ethics and how to apply them to the church. From some contemporary perspectives, the decision to send away foreign wives appears racist or misogynistic. Important questions arise. Do Ezra and the … Read more

The History and Current Status of Greek Linguistics and the Book of Revelation

Co-authored by Stanley E. Porter and Alan E. Kurschner Traditional strategies for interpreting the Book of Revelation have broadly included historical and social-scientific criticism, literary criticism, and theological and ethical approaches. In recent years, however, the Book of Revelation has begun to attract modern linguistic analysis because of the recognition of the book’s foundational textual … Read more

Francis Turretin and the Psychological Analogy: A Reformed Critique within the Nicene Tradition

In the context of retrieving Classical Trinitarian Theology, one of the key questions that must be addressed is whether the psychological analogy is an essential element of Nicene Trinitarianism. In other words, does the Word proceed from the intellect (understanding) and the Spirit from the will (love)? Some of the most prominent heirs of the … Read more

Ḥesed and Halakhah: Jesus’ Correction of the Pharisaic Understanding of Ḥesed in Matthew 9:9-13

When questioned by the Pharisees about his unsavory table fellows in Matthew 9:9-13, Jesus responds with a medical proverb, a remedial directive from Hosea 6:6, and a mission. This confrontational exchange raises two important questions about the Hebrew concept of ḥesed supplied by Jesus’ Hosea 6:6 quotation and the practice of mercy as it was … Read more