Is the Reformation dead? It may be a surprising question to us, especially since we’re commemorating Reformation Day this morning. But it’s a question worth asking. When we assess Protestantism honestly, we find that there are good reasons to wonder. Over the past couple of centuries, . . . . Continue Reading »
Luther wrote: “The ‘righteousness of God’ . . . is the righteousness by which God is righteous, and we are righteous by the same righteousness, just as by the same word God makes us be and we indeed are what he is, so that we may be in him and his being may be our being.” . . . . Continue Reading »
Genesis 17 is chiastically organized, with internal chiasms spinning out of it. The overall chiasm is: A. Abe 99, v 1a B. Yahweh appears, v 1b C. El Shaddai: establish covenant, v 2 D. Abram falls on face, v 3a E. God speaks: changes Abe’s name, vv 3b-8 F. Circumcision, vv 9-14 E’. God . . . . Continue Reading »
Abram builds altars all over the land (Genesis 12:7-8; 13:4, 18; 22:9), wherever Yahweh appears to him. But what does he do at those altars? He “calls upon the name of Yahweh” (12:8; 13:4). None of the normal terminology of sacrifice is used in these passages - no “offering” . . . . Continue Reading »
Perry Robinson writes to correct my comments about Nestorian soteriology early this week: “Nestorius didn’t underwrite a synergistic soteriology in his Christology since he explicitly advocated a monothelite Christology. The divine used the human and produced a single appearance which . . . . Continue Reading »
A few days ago I said that the flood was the first time flesh was cut. That is true with respect to the particular phrase “cut off flesh” (Genesis 9:11). Several readers have pointed out, though, that there are a couple of cutting episodes prior to the flood. Adam’s . . . . Continue Reading »
First Things has a Reformation-Day article of mine up on their web site this weekend. Take a look: http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2010/10/priesthood-of-believers . . . . Continue Reading »
J. Louis Martyn ( Galatians (The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries) ) notes Paul’s fourfold use of “apocalypse” in Galatians (1:12 15-16; 2:2; 3:23). Paul received his gospel “when God apocalypsed Christ to him,” and this gospel was about the . . . . Continue Reading »
Paul claims to have been separated by God’s good pleasure from his mother’s womb (Galatians 1:15; Gr. koilias metros ), so that the Son could be unveiled ( apokalupsai ) in him. There’s a rich Old Testament background. Most obvious is the link with Jeremiah, who is also . . . . Continue Reading »
The verb for “rescue” that Paul uses to describe the effect of Christ’s self-gift (Galatians 1:4) is the same word Jesus uses for plucking out eyes (Matthew 5:29; 18:9). It is an exodus term: Stephen uses it to describe Yahweh’s rescue of Joseph from his afflictions . . . . Continue Reading »
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