One of the oddities of Paul’s use of Genesis 15:6 is that this passage is clearly NOT about Abraham’s conversion. Abraham has already set up altars on at least two occasions (12:7-8), and he is calling on the name of the Lord (13:3-4). Even if that is unconvincing, Hebrews 11 makes it . . . . Continue Reading »
Exhortation for Feb 8: Toward the end of this morning’s sermon text, Jesus takes the twelve aside for some individual instruction. He tells them, as He has done before, that they are going to Jerusalem so that all the things prophesied about the Son of Man can be accomplished: “He will . . . . Continue Reading »
Eucharistic meditation for Feb 8: Luke 18:7-8 This morning, we explored the question, What does prayer have to do with justice? We can now take up a related question, What does the Lord’s Supper have to do with justice? The answer is much the same. The Supper is many things: It is a . . . . Continue Reading »
The incident with the “ruler” in Luke 18 begins with a question about how to inherit eternal life, and ends with the promise of “eternal life” (v 30). Along the way, Jesus has radically transformed the path to eternal life. Jesus does not say that one inherits life by doing . . . . Continue Reading »
Kenneth Bailey helpfully emphasizes that Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the publican takes place in the temple, and he suggests convincingly that it is set during a public worship service. The fact that both men go up to the temple at the same time, and the fact that they are both . . . . Continue Reading »
Sermon outline, Feb 8: INTRODUCTION As we saw last week, Luke 17:11 begins a new stage of Luke’s account of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, one that comes to an end in 19:48. This large section is divided into two subsections, 17:11-18:30 and 18:31-19:48. These two subsections are closely . . . . Continue Reading »
Here’s an ouline for a lecture on Renaissance and Modernity: Renaissance and Modernity Credenda/Agenda History Conference Pre-Conference Lecture February 5, 2004 Peter J. Leithart I. Assessments of the Renaissance and modernity. A. What is “modernity”? Slavoj Zizek in The Puppet . . . . Continue Reading »
The fact that the NT uses a political term, “kingdom of God,” to describe the salvation that Jesus achieves is puzzling to moderns. Part of the resolution to that problem is to recognize, as I’ve argued elsewhere, that the Bible treats “salvation” as a political issue. . . . . Continue Reading »
Late dating of the gospels is historically preposterous. Even the most “conservative” dating assumes that Jewish Christians, who believed that the long-awaited salvation had finally occurred in Jesus, would wait over a decade before putting an ordered account on paper. On the contrary: . . . . Continue Reading »
Steve Martin, The Pleasure of My Company . New York: Hyperion, 2003. 163 pp. In his second novel, Steve Martin (yes, the actor) tells the story of the “redemption” of Daniel Pecan Cambridge. Daniel is a narcissistic neurotic so frightened of walking off curbs that he maps out a . . . . Continue Reading »
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