Athanasius and the Development of Post-Nicene Pneumatology

The original Nicene Creed of 325 includes robust theological confessions pertaining to the Father and the Son. However, the Creed gave the Spirit scant attention, merely including “And in the Holy Spirit” concerning the third Person of the Trinity. Over fifty years later at the Council of Constantinople, the Creed enhanced significantly the confession of … Read more

Interpreting the Song of Songs: Wisdom, Orthodoxy, and Feminism

This paper will present the interpretative approach of my forthcoming commentary on the Song of Songs (Zondervan, ZECOT). The Song of Songs is a poetical wisdom composition in the tradition of Solomon that serves as the correlate to the approach of Proverbs 1–9, especially Proverbs 5 and 7. With this interpretation, the woman of the … Read more

Should You Love Those Who Hate YHWH?: The Chronicler’s Perspective on Mixed Marriages

Scholars have traditionally argued that the Chronicler makes no critical comment on intermarriage, citing his omission of Solomon’s foreign wives as evidence of this position. This paper challenges this view by demonstrating how the Chronicler employs sophisticated literary strategies to preserve Kings’ critique of problematic marriages while shifting the emphasis from ethnic to religious considerations. … Read more

A Crisis of truth, shared values, integrity, and humility: Wisdom from Francis Collins, MD

Navigating our deeply divided world, both sacred and secular, leaves those on the left, middle, and right exhausted and demoralized. Online “news,” driven by algorithms, fuels conflict without concerns for truth and critical reflection. This paper will consider how Christians can recover a trustworthy epistemology by considering paradigms proposed by Dr. Francis Collins: physician, geneticist, … Read more

The Root of Apostasy: Hebrews 12 and the Reception of Deuteronomy 29:18–19

While past studies on apostasy in Hebrews have disproportionately focused on the warnings in Hebrews 6:4–12 and, to a lesser extent, Hebrews 10:26–31, I argue that the use of Deuteronomy 29:18–19 in Hebrews 12:15, the last of the book’s five warning passages, is uniquely illuminating to the author’s theology of perseverance and apostasy. This becomes … Read more

Meredith G. Kline’s Revision of Nicene Trinitarianism

In God, Heaven, and Har Magedon, Meredith G. Kline proposed an unconventional account of the relational order between the Son and the Holy Spirit. He argued that, in terms of the eternal generation of the Son, there is an inverted order within the Trinity—the procession of the Spirit precedes the filiation of the Son, and, … Read more

The Catholic Calvin: Christ’s Satisfaction in John Calvin’s Theology

The doctrine of satisfaction, as handed down by both medieval scholastics and early modern theologians (prior to the Socinian controversy), teaches that Christ’s work on the cross was a voluntary and pleasing offering to God which was accepted in lieu of retributive punishment. The evidence presented in this paper demonstrates that the reformer John Calvin … Read more

A Cry for Vengeance: A Contextual Analysis of the Imprecatory Psalms in Africa

Western Christians may assume that the practice of imprecatory prayers occurred only in ancient Israel as shown in the Psalms. In fact, this practice has endured down through the centuries in traditional Africa until even today. I come from the Lugbara people of Uganda, in Eastern Africa, and my people have uttered imprecations and curses … Read more