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This presentation will argue that Ephesians describes a global perspective of the Church by recognizing the letter’s characterization of the Church, surveying discourse participants to identify the Church, and examining the letter’s portrayal of the Church through two verses as a test case. Ephesians is rife with imagery characterizing the Church. Scholars typically describe the … Read more
This paper presents two new constructive proposals in defense of a social model of the Trinity. In this model Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are understood to be fully united yet eternally distinct centers of knowledge, love, and will––related in ways analogous to a society of three human persons. The first proposal (I) extends perichoresis … Read more
Many theologians speak about the importance of love in theology. In most instances, love is viewed as a result, perhaps even a goal, of knowledge: we learn about God so that we may love him. Sometimes, love is even identified as a motivation for theology, insofar as we seek to understand the God that we … Read more
The distinction between passions and affections, long blurred under the generic label emotions, needs to be restored not only for the sake of orthodoxy, but also for the refinement of Christian sanctification and worship. Recent evangelical theologies (e.g., Grudem, Erickson) have diminished the doctrine of divine impassibility in view of God’s manifest expression of feeling/emotion. … Read more
The Fourth Gospel (FG) opens with the expression Ἐν ἀρχῇ which coheres exactly with the Greek Septuagint (LXX) of Genesis 1:1. The explicit lexical and thematic correspondence between the FG and Genesis has long been noted by scholars like C.K. Barret, D.A. Carson, Craig Keener, Andreas Köstenberger, Brandon Crowe, and Edward Klink III among others. … Read more
Until recently, John Gill has been examined almost exclusively through the lens of hyper-Calvinism. However, recent scholarship has awakened interest in Gill’s broader theological project, moving the discussion into new territory beyond whether Gill was a hyper-Calvinist. First, Richard Muller, both in his monumental work, Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics, and in a chapter contribution to Michael … Read more
Paul’s statements in Rom 5:13-14 have long perplexed commentators. The fact that they constitute a parenthesis tempts the interpreter, if not to bypass them, to marginalize their place and importance within the broader argument of Rom 5:12-21 and of Rom 5:1-8:39. In fact, Paul’s three references to Moses and to the law in these verses … Read more
This paper argues for a connection between Bonhoeffer’s vision of community and the Filipino value of malasakit (i.e., a concern for others, compassion, empathy). Born out of a compelling desire to see the Church of Jesus Christ revitalized, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together became a resounding and reforming call in light of his era’s combat, cowardice, … Read more
A foretaste of the future reading strategy considers how the visions of the future in Revelation invite and motivate participation and action in the present as a way to live into God’s promised future. In this approach, the visions in Revelation function as the ideal toward which Christians should work in the less than ideal … Read more
As Christianity’s cultural influence wanes, different versions of spirituality have increased their prominence in Western society. Eastern forms of spirituality have been growing in the West since the latter half of the twentieth century, Transcendental Meditation in particular. First established by Maharishi Mahesh, Transcendental Meditation spread quickly from India to Europe and the United States … Read more