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This paper argues that Timothy George constructs a Protestant model of theological retrieval rooted in the Nicene Creed’s four marks of the Church: one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. Rather than treating these ecclesial attributes as abstract doctrinal affirmations, George operationalizes them as a theological framework for engaging church history. His method of retrieval, deeply informed … Read more
Charles Haddon Spurgeon could not escape his catholic reputation. After his death, biographers observed that, though Spurgeon was a Baptist, he was a servant of the universal church. With the recent completion of the publication of Spurgeon’s lost sermons, scholars have also discovered inklings of ecumenism present in the earliest years of Spurgeon’s ministry. These … Read more
The purpose of this paper is to re-examine Paul’s list of building materials in 1 Corinthians 3:12 in order to propose that all of the materials should be understood as good and necessary for adequately building in Paul’s construction metaphor (1 Cor. 3:9-17). Contra the traditional interpretation, which argues that the materials should be broken … Read more
This paper will trace several potential allusions and echoes to Old Testament and Second Temple texts in Acts 2:1-13. Although scholars have suggested several potential texts from the Hebrew Bible as background for the descent of the Spirit in Acts 2:1-13, no consensus has emerged on what text or texts Luke may have in mind … Read more
This paper engages with the conceptual backdrop to the term “citizenship” which appears within the Pauline corpus in passages such as such as Philippians 3:20 or Ephesians 2:19. While a lexical study of the NT πολίτης and its various forms are engaged within this work, significant space is also devoted to elucidating the Old Testament … Read more
God’s covenants frame Scripture’s metanarrative. Thus, rightly understanding the various covenants is a foundational task of biblical theology. The Noahic covenant occupies a significant literary and canonical location: its stands at the beginning of the book of Genesis and is the first explicitly named covenant found in Scripture. However, a handful of scholars have noted … Read more
The Nicene Creed is best known for its develop of an orthodox formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity. Due to Trinitarian formulation the Creed has been accepted an “ecumenical creed.” Nevertheless, an under scrutinised aspect of the Creed is its statement on baptism. This paper will examine the Creed’s understanding of baptism. It will … Read more
Archaeological evidence supports the idea in the Old Testament historical books that pre-exilic Israelites were prone to doubt about their status as the favored people of Yahweh. Numerous sites reveal evidence of Israelites worshiping both Yahweh and other deities, just as the historical books give regular reports of Israel’s temptation to follow other gods. One … Read more
The present paper demonstrates that the early American Methodists (1784-1830) followed John Wesley in affirming the Anglican doctrine of infant baptismal regeneration, which was rooted in their interpretation of the Nicene Creed. Like Wesley, the American Methodists maintained this sacramental emphasis of objective grace even while emphasizing the importance of evangelical conversion. Some, however, such … Read more
The unique feature of Johannine eschatology – the tension between the present and the future, with a significant focus on the present age – is well reflected in John 3:36, which describes two destinies: eternal life or the wrath of God. Two further aspects of this verse have been largely overlooked by scholars: (1) the … Read more