Fuzziness

The Bible is a complex book.  Consisting of sixty-six books written over several millennia, it describes a bewildering array of characters and events.  The Bible seems especially complex and difficult to modern Christians, because, however hard we try to think biblically, we have been subtly but deeply influenced by modern philosophy and science.  Often, even [...]

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How Mark Came to be Written

The phone rang. “Hello, this is John Mark.”
“Hi, JM. This is Simon Peter.”
“Oh, hello, Mr. Rock,” said Mark. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, JM” said Peter, “I’ve been very impressed by your recent essays in the New Jew Review, especially your series on David as the anointed one, pointing to our Lord Jesus. Some [...]

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How James [Jacob] Came to Be Written

“. . . and just when are you guys going to live up to your Sons of Thunder reputation? Huh? A lot of us are wondering about you two.” With that, the young man got up, climbed down the ladder, and stalked up the street toward the old city.
Jacob turned from watching the man and [...]

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How Matthew Came to be Written

The sun had set and finally the crowds had dispersed. The disciples gathered in the upper room, exhausted but joyful after preaching and teaching in many different languages all day, not to speak of seeing to the baptism of three thousand people. James bar Alphaeus put on a CD of the Bach Christmas Oratorio, which [...]

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Church, Culture, Cause, Effect

There was a time, I think, when Evangelical Christianity in North America tended to be dominated by what might be (pejoratively) called a “retreatist” or even “defeatist” view of society. For various reasons, Christians believed that society was headed downhill and there was nothing the Church could do about it, and thus nothing they [...]

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Romans in 500 Words

David Field notes that there are dozens of ways to summarize Romans.  Here, republished with his permission, is his:
I want to help you understand God’s good news: good news about Jesus, good news which saves, good news which reveals God’s covenant faithfulness (1.1-17).
As it is, God’s wrath against human rebellion and degradation is clear (1.18-32). [...]

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Paul’s Use of Scripture in Romans 3 (3)

In our previous post, we examined the sundry texts from which Paul quotes in his great catena of quotations in Rom 3.10-18. But the thought unit is not yet complete; Paul makes his assessment of the implications in 3.19-20. This followup makes Paul’s intent clearer, although it is frequently misread (verse 19, in particular; I [...]

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Paul’s Use of Scripture in Romans 3 (2)

In our earlier look at Paul’s use of Scripture in Romans 3, we focused upon how Psalm 51, from which the apostle quotes in verse 4, determines and shapes our reading of 3.1-8. We also noted that the psalm contains a reference to divine righteousness (Ps 51.14), where it refers to God’s salvific activity. In [...]

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Paul’s Use of Scripture in Romans 3 (1)

It has always been important to pay attention to the Old Testament quotations we find in the New Testament, but in recent years, it has become even more clear that one must take into account the extended context of the passage cited, not simply the words directly quoted. This is understandable: unlike our situation, the [...]

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Is Genesis 15 an attack on forensic justification?

Hebrews 11 makes it very clear that Abram (later, Abraham) exercised saving faith from the time he left his home to go wonder in Caanan. He was justified at least from the time of the call in Genesis 12.1-3 on. Yet I keep reading people

who think that any appeal to the fact that [...]

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