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This paper critiques Barth’s Christological Anthropology against Bavinck’s Trinitarian Anthropology, highlighting a potential problem with Barth’s Relational view of the Imago Dei and human nature. In a respectful continuation of Bavinck’s work, I will present what I call a typological relations model that grounds the Imago Dei in the Triune God instead of the Covenant, … Read more
The description of Ham as Noah’s “youngest son” (בנו הקטן) in Gen 9:24 has long puzzled readers, since he appears to be depicted as the middle son in 9:18 (i.e., “Shem, Ham, and Japheth”). Discussions surrounding this verse often have centered around source- and redaction-critical issues, with interpreters arguing that this phrase is a vestige … Read more
Theologians commonly appeal to Ephesians 4:23–24 in their expositions of human nature and the image of God. Is this an instance of irresponsible proof-texting, or a valid inference from the discourse of Ephesians? Indeed, there do seem to be good reasons to recognize an anthropological dimension in this text. Christian renewal is envisioned as restoration … Read more
This paper will argue that there is no unified, “biblical” perspective on animals, contrary to the claims of both the ecocentric camp (following Lynn White’s allegation) and the anthropocentric camp, but that there are clear implications about animals that both viewpoints need to acknowledge. Prooftexts are often used to justify either an anthropocentric or ecocentric … Read more
The characterization of David in the Book of Samuel raises the question of whether he should be classified as a virtuous or flawed king. However, it is worth reconsidering whether the interpretation of Davidic narratives should be constrained by a rigid binary framework. This paper concurs with recent scholarship that challenges a dichotomous reading of … Read more
God’s “creation blessing” was given first to the sea and air creatures (Gen 1:22) and subsequently three times to humanity (Gen 1:28; Gen 9:1, 7). The creation blessing reveals God’s intention for creation characterised by flourishing diversity, including a flourishing ethnocultural diversity. The powers of sin and death, which entered the biblical story in Genesis … Read more
Since the mid-twentieth century, especially through the influence of George Eldon Ladd, the term “historic premillennialism” has been used to describe a form of early Christian eschatology distinct from later forms of premillennialism, particularly “dispensational premillennialism.” In the last seventy-five years, however, scholarly engagement with pre-Nicene eschatology has acknowledged a much greater diversity of views … Read more
In the rapidly evolving cultural landscape that followed on the heels of the sexual revolution, Protestants have struggled to sufficiently comprehend and respond to the subversion of gender and sexual norms in the West. Protestants have largely responded in the form of a textual apologetic grounded in biblical theology. The efficacy of this approach has … Read more
While “religious trauma syndrome” and “spiritual abuse” are today readily arrayed to understand the impact of highly controlling socio-religious structures, the burgeoning scholarly category of theologized trauma has also made it clear that religious doctrine “lands” in concrete ways on embodied human life. In many eras, these somatic impacts of doctrinal discourse have had harmful … Read more
The term “evangelical” can have different definitions depending on the context. As a theological phenomenon, it is typically categorized by four tenets: biblicism, conversionism, activism, and crucicentrism. Danish theologian and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard is usually not considered an evangelical. In fact, many evangelical voices—such as Francis Schaeffer—paint Kierkegaard as an enemy to the evangelical movement. … Read more