Approved – Page 29 – Evangelical Theological Society

Urgency for the Spectators: Revelation Confronts the Audience in Narrative Asides & Digressions

Despite the fact that six of the seven cities addressed in Revelation 2–3 can boast material remains of Greco-Roman theaters (some have multiple!), little sustained scholarly attention has been paid to the influence of theatrical drama on the reception-context of Revelation’s performance. Prominently carved into hillsides, the theater-complexes marked one of several distinctive institutions that … Read more

To whom else shall we go? Global evangelicalism and the rise of modern paganism

Evangelicals have long paid attention to statistics and studies which have indicated a “rise of the Nones” (i.e. those claiming in surveys to have no religious affiliation) and the ongoing trends of deconversion or ex-evangelicalism. Rather than indicating a decline in religious affiliation, in this paper I will argue that the worldview winner in the … Read more

A Metaphysical Image of God and the Possibility of Natural Theology

This paper seeks to answer the question of the metaphysical possibility of natural theology. In other words, is there something about human nature that makes the task of natural theology a real possibility? The argument presented here is that it is mankind as made in the image of God that allows for the possibility for … Read more

A God-ward Orientation: Insights for Spiritual Formation from the Book of Job

Humans enjoy neither pain nor waiting—much less their combination. Whether the prolonged strain of ‘the problem of pain’ (with a nod to C.S. Lewis) forges or frays the divine-human relationship has much to do with one’s disposition towards the God responsible for it and, consequently, what response one adopts. This paper explores these issues via … Read more

How Will “All Israel Be Saved?” A New Translation of Ridderbos’s Commentary on Romans 11:25-32

Critical to the New Testament’s vision of the global church is the place and role of Israel in the divine economy. Central to that vision is Paul’s much-debated argument in Rom 9-11, especially Rom 11:25-32. Many evangelical interpreters understand Paul to teach a future, end-time mass conversion of Israel at the end of history immediately … Read more

“Spirit of Gentleness” and Korean Online Shaming: Restorative Approaches to Justice Addiction in

“Spirit of Gentleness” and Korean Online Shaming: Restorative Approaches to Justice Addiction in Korean Evangelicalism through Galatians 6:1-2 Recently there have been many cases in Korea that people (celebrities and normal people) who became the victim of online shaming, committed suicide. Online shaming and its negative impact, particularly within Korean cultures, demands attention. Japanese brain … Read more

Bible-Belt Baptists on the West Coast: California as a Southern Baptist State

In the twentieth century, conservative Protestantism got a new start in California as hundreds of thousands of Americans from Oklahoma, Texas, and surrounding states settled there beginning in the 1930s and 1940s. Darren Dochuk’s From Bible Belt to Sunbelt has well demonstrated the significant role that Southern California played in the advancement of evangelical Christianity … Read more

To Whom Is Moses Preached? The Four Prohibitions and Gentile Synagogue Attendance in Acts 15:21

Acts 15:21 has puzzled many interpreters, to the point that Martin Dibelius calls it “one of the most difficult verses of the New Testament.” Coming at the conclusion of James’s speech during the so-called Jerusalem Council, this verse ostensibly corroborates James’s choice of four prohibitions for gentile believers to follow in lieu of the demands … Read more

The Kingdom of God as “Colonizing” Power

Premised on a definition of colonization as “the process of establishing complete control over a foreign territory and its peoples,” part one of this paper, designed to humbly open possibilities and discussion, will suggest and argue that, in continuity with the hopes of the Prophets, the Kingdom of God is presented in the NT as … Read more

Why Highlight Nomina Sacra in New Testament Writings?

This paper briefly describes the nomina sacra system – graphic textual demarcations of words such as “God,” “Lord,” “Jesus,” “Christ” and “Spirit” – and its significance in the New Testament manuscript tradition, as well as provides an explanation of why nomina sacra is emphasised in the biblical text. In early Christian Greek Bible manuscripts, we … Read more