Wow. Robert Jenson knows how to write a review. In the latest Pro Ecclesia , he presents his “three complaints” against Nathan Kerr’s Christ, History and Apocalyptic: The Politics of Christian Mission (Theopolitical Visions) , which he describes as “important,” . . . . Continue Reading »
Austin Farrer makes the simple observation that “What was expressed in human terms here below was not bare deity; it was divine sonship.” Then he adds this beautiful passage: “God cannot live an identically godlike life in eternity and in a human story. But the divine Son can make . . . . Continue Reading »
The more seriously one takes the evangelical claim that God suffers the condemnation of humanity in Jesus, “the stronger becomes the temptation to approximate to the view of a contradiction and conflict in God Himself.” So says Barth. Yet Barth with equal vehemence rejects the notion of . . . . Continue Reading »
Some of my thoughts on Jesus and violence over at http://www.firstthings.com/ . . . . . Continue Reading »
A friend, Wes Baker, offers these additional thoughts on Genesis 3:15 as a Messianic prophecy: “First, it seems clear to me that Rev 12 is a direct reflection on the woman and seed of Isaiah 66, which in turn is a meditation by Isaiah on Gen 3.15. Pointing out the middle step can be helpful . . . . Continue Reading »
At the end of his comments regarding Genesis 3:15, Witherington says that “even if [the passage] were a reference to Christ, Christ solved the Satan problem not by being a warrior messiah and thus by killing but by dying on a cross!! Jesus was the antithesis of a warrior messiah when he . . . . Continue Reading »
Back to Witherington, and I discern that nuance and subtlety are not Witherington’s style, at least not in these posts. He writes, “Gen. 3.15 is not in any way shape or form a messianic prophecy about a warrior messiah. The ‘he’ in question is the descendants of Eve of . . . . Continue Reading »
I skip over Witherington’s second complaint for a moment and move to #3. For this one, he uses two exclamation points!! More than once!! Witherington writes, “the enmity set between humans and ‘the serpent’ has nothing to do with an endorsement of war, it has to do with a . . . . Continue Reading »
Douglas Farrow is making a career out of the ascension. Not a bad thing to make a career of. In his freshly published sequel to Ascension and Ecclesia: On the Significance of the Doctrine of the Ascension for Ecclesiology and Christian Cosmology , entitled simply Ascension Theology , Farrow defends . . . . Continue Reading »
So says Calvin, doctor of divine sovereignty. Commenting on John 14:18, he writes, “We . . . imagine to ourselves but a half-Christ, and a mutilated Christ, if he does not lead us to God.” In John 17, when Jesus speaks of Himself as One with the Father, we must remember that Jesus is . . . . Continue Reading »
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