Stratford Caldecott explains the logic of self-giving within the Triune life ( The Radiance of Being: Dimensions of Cosmic Christianity , 110-111): “it is the Father, not the Essence, who gives, but the Father is the Essence, or not -other than the Essence, and what is given also is the . . . . Continue Reading »
In his contribution to John Paul II on Science and Religion: Reflections on the New View from Rome , T.F. Torrance claims that Maxwell’s investigations into field phenomena arose from theology, specifically from a Trinitarian dissatisfaction with Newton’s universe: “Clerk . . . . Continue Reading »
Zephaniah 3’s description of God exalting over Israel as a husband over his bride has created some difficulties for interpreters. According to on Balserak ( Divinity Compromised: A Study of Divine Accommodation in the Thought of John Calvin ), Conrad Pellican and Bucer argue that since . . . . Continue Reading »
Is God the God of Abraham? It seems impossible: How could “of Abraham” be a description of God if Abraham’s existence is contingent (as it certainly is)? Should we then say that God is not essentially the God of Abraham but only voluntarily so? That solution doesn’t satisfy . . . . 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 »
In his analysis of The doctrine of the atonement in Jonathan Edwards and his successors , DP Rudisill says that Edwards sets the Father’s justice in opposition to the Son’s love. This cannot be, of course: “If Christ be the perfect revelation of God, the attributes which He . . . . Continue Reading »
Biblical and Hellenistic philosophical monotheism were unified in their rejection of myth and polytheism. But the direction of their critique was different. For Plato and Platonism, the world of sensible things and change is a distraction: “Physical sensations and poetical imitations of them . . . . Continue Reading »
For Trinitarian theology, the Father, Son, and Spirit who act in the events recounted in the gospel are “real, distinct agents, not signs of something else.” Trinitarianism denies that “the saving action that transpires among the three is not some kind of symbol pointing to . . . . Continue Reading »
Animals have “soul” (Heb. nephesh ). Like Adam, they are living souls, self-animated breathers. Occasionally, Scripture speaks of animals as “spirits” or as having “spirit” ( ruach ; land animals in Genesis 7:22; “spirits of all flesh” in Numbers . . . . Continue Reading »
Adriaan C. Neele concludes his chapter on Petrus van Mastricht’s doctrine of the Trinity by highlighting the prominence that Mastricht gives to the covenant ( Petrus Van Mastricht (1630-1706): Reformed Orthodoxy: Method and Piety , 278): “Mastricht carefully exposited and formulated the . . . . Continue Reading »
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