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2 Kings 22:8-11 tells a remarkable story of how the Book of the Law was found in the temple; it had been lost for many years, both literally and philosophically. As a result, Judah had been led into sin. Today, the United States—and churches in general—can be said to have “lost” the Word of God, … Read more
This paper will compare and contrast five distinct models of union with Christ in 16th and 17th century Reformed theology. The “models” to be discussed will be restricted to the various understandings of what the union actually is, rather than the more commonly-discussed benefits of the union. The models discussed will be those of John … Read more
This essay will explore the explicit aspect of transitioning the community of Samaritans from worship practices on Mt Gerizim to worship in “spirit and in truth” πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ. Jesus expressed a divine need to go through Samaria as recorded in John 4. The Greek verb, ἔδει, is used as a literary device to direct … Read more
In this paper, I will argue that the implicit connections between Thomas Aquinas’s accounts of the Transfiguration and the Lord’s Supper bolsters our understanding of sacramental illumination by highlighting the obediential potencies of their material instruments. In contemporary scholarship, few contributions focus on Christ’s transfiguration. The neglect of the transfiguration is evident in the broad … Read more
In the introduction to his magisterial commentary on John’s letters, Robert Yarbrough devotes two paragraphs to what these letters contribute to our understanding of pastoral ministry. I have not found any similar attention to examining what we see of John as a pastor in his letters in other commentaries. However, John invites us to see … Read more
Why would the apostle Paul omit a word from an Old Testament text in a quotation? In 2 Thessalonians 1:9, Paul quotes from the triple refrain from Isaiah 2:10, 19, and 21, but his quote does not match the extant text of Isaiah. Paul omits the word “fear” (MT: פַּחַד; LXX: φόβος). Scholars have offered … Read more
Against some who have argued for the erasure of sex distinctions in the new creation and others who have seen in the hope of bodily resurrection the promise of a different ontological order, this paper will argue that just as our embodied sex provides the true ground for gender identity in this age, so it … Read more
As the debate between egalitarians and complementarians continues, many evangelical churches are adopting the egalitarian stance. Considering the growing number of female pastors and women preachers in evangelical churches, Jon Woodyard comments that, “we live in an egalitarian moment.” In an article published in The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Approaches to the Hebrew Bible in … Read more
Critics like Scott Aniol argue that emotionality in music is a manipulative distraction from true spiritual engagement. But does the Bible share this concern? This paper challenges Aniol’s assessment of music’s ability to evoke emotion by redefining manipulation as influence, and by examining 1 Samuel’s use of music and its broader cultural and theological implications. … Read more
In recent decades, many Christian leaders and scholars have insisted that the questions of how and when God created the world should not be considered as a test of orthodoxy. They have argued that the “how” and “when” of creation are matters of secondary or even tertiary importance over which Christians should agree to disagree. … Read more