Aaron was the older brother of Moses, and so Moses’ primacy in the relationship between the two continues the regular theme of Genesis: The older shall serve the younger. At the same time, in several specific ways Aaron sets the pattern for the life of Moses. Aaron leads Israel in idolatry at . . . . Continue Reading »
Has what Milbank calls the “liberal Protestant metanarrative” become the Protestant narrative? I raise and explore this question at Firstthings.com today. . . . . Continue Reading »
Does God do all He does to glorify Himself, or for the sake of His creatures? Neither alternative satisfies. If the former, He seems a cosmic narcissist; if the latter, a cosmic therapist. According to Jenson ( America’s Theologian: A Recommendation of Jonathan Edwards , 39), Jonathan Edwards . . . . Continue Reading »
Over many centuries, one of the standard ways for Christians to integrate ancient into biblical history was a twist on the ancient Euhemerist theory that the gods were originally kings and heroes who were granted divine status at death. In biblical Euhemerism, the heroes are biblical heroes, whose . . . . Continue Reading »
In a sermon on the acceptable sacrifice of Christ ( Sermons and Discourses, 1723-1729 ), Edwards emphasizes that union of Christ with His people is the foundation for Christ’s substitution for His people: “Christ, that gave himself in sacrifice, is so united to them he died for, that it . . . . Continue Reading »
Molly Ball reports at the Atlantic on the “quiet revolution” in Christian views of gays and gay marriage over the past decade. “Congregations across the country increasingly accept, nurture, and even marry their gay brethren,” she writes. “Polls show majorities of . . . . Continue Reading »
“There is no such thing as mechanism,” Edwards argues (quoted in Jenson, America’s Theologian: A Recommendation of Jonathan Edwards , 25). He means that there is no such thing as “mechanics” if that means “that whereby bodies act each upon other, purely and . . . . Continue Reading »
Discussing the “Antiochene” orientation of Western Christology ( America’s Theologian: A Recommendation of Jonathan Edwards ), Jenson remarks: “Western thinking perhaps moved more simple-mindedly in the Antiochene track than had the Antiochenes themselves. Thus the brilliant . . . . Continue Reading »
Jenson offers a typically witty and condensed assessment of “natural theology” and its relation to the gospel in his America’s Theologian: A Recommendation of Jonathan Edwards . The confrontation arises from the basic missionary character of the Christian church. Because it bears . . . . Continue Reading »
In a 2007 lecture , Margaret Jacob describes the series of dominoes whose toppling helped produce the European Enlightenment. The roles of England, France, and the Netherlands are crucial. The Netherlands provided the seedbed because of lax censorship restrictions on any book not in Dutch and its . . . . Continue Reading »
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