Blogs

INTRODUCTION Theological hermeneutics – human understanding and interpretation in light of the identity and acts of the triune God – faces two problematic questions that, I believe, every biblical and/or theological scholar must be prepared to address. First, should the Bible be read in some special sense as divine revelation, or should we read the Bible like any other text? And second, should biblical and theological studies be one discipline, or two?...

Why write out a list of principles? For one thing, it’s my birthday. And, although I’m only in my twenties, I’m feeling a bit reflective. For another, I’ve just been given a copy of Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio (affiliate link). According to Dalio (ix), Principles are fundamental truths that serve as the foundations for behavior that gets you what you want out of life. They can be aplied again and again in similar situations to help you achieve your goals....

The following is an attempt to tell my testimony, the story of my Christian faith, in approximately 500 words. It was challenging to do, but also a helpful exercise! I challenge you to write out your own story in approximately 500 words. Testimony For as long as I can remember, I have known and followed Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. However, there has been a lingering problem in our relationship – on my end....

Podcasts: An Introduction Although podcasts (think “iPod” + “broadcast”) have been around for over a decade, we’re living in a bit of a golden age – or a least a Rennaissance – of the medium. For the uninitiated, here’s a nice video about what podcasts are: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oerm5Q_9u2A Currently, podcasts are one of my very favorite ways to consume information about a wide variety of topics. Sure, gun to my head, I’ll choose books over podcasts as a way to learn....

The following is an “It is Finished” sermon preached on Ascension Sunday, 2017. You can listen to the sermon here: https://joshuapsteele.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/05-28-17JS.mp3 GOODBYES SUCK You know, if there’s one thing I hate, it’s goodbyes. Anyone else here hate goodbyes? Yeah, and the fact that I hate them so much means I’m not really very good at goodbyes. Sometimes I get awkward and silent. Sometimes I get awkward and really chatty! Heck, sometimes I get awkward and I make poor choices, like the one time when I was getting ready to say goodbye to my family when they dropped me off at college....

https://joshuapsteele.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/04-13-17JS.mp3 There is something special about last meals, isn’t there? I’d like to show you a series of photographs. These photographs, except for the last one – which I added, are from a piece called “No Seconds,” and they were put together by Henry Hargreaves. I don’t want to belabor the artwork with my commentary, so I’ll give you a few seconds to take each slide in. [](https://joshuapsteele.com/maundy-thursday-sermon-the-lasting-supper-luke-2214-30/slide2/) [](https://joshuapsteele.com/maundy-thursday-sermon-the-lasting-supper-luke-2214-30/slide11/) [](https://joshuapsteele.com/maundy-thursday-sermon-the-lasting-supper-luke-2214-30/slide10/) [!...

Have you ever had a problem finding a reliable resource for recommendations? I have. Certain Google searches are a piece of cake, but the “best resources for ______” ones can be hit-or-miss. And don’t even get me started on the decision fatigue. As a serial over-thinker, I start to hate myself a little bit after reading through the upteenth list of “5 Best ____s.” It makes it so hard to make a decision!...

https://joshuapsteele.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/01-29-17JSGeetingAheadinGodsUpsideDownKingdom.mp3 [MP3: Getting Ahead in God’s Upside-Down Kingdom] [PDF Sermon Manuscript: Getting Ahead in God’s Upside-Down Kingdom] Opening Prayer God, our Refuge, I ask that your Holy Spirit would move in our lives, so that we would: promote your justice embody your steadfast faithful love and humbly obey Your will, even if it costs us our reputations, and even if it costs us our lives. I ask that this transformation would begin with me....

(Note: Read more about my work on Barth, Bonhoeffer, and the Bible here.) Christian theologians Karl Barth (1886-1968) and Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) inherited a particular understanding of religion. In the broadly post-Kantian milieu, nineteenth-century thinkers such as Friedrich Schleiermacher, Albrecht Ritschl, and Adolf von Harnack defined religion essentially, anthropologically, and subjectively. That is, religion has a particular essence, and is in some manner inalienable from our humanity. The emphasis of this conception is on the experience of the religious subject, instead of the knowledge of religion’s object (let alone its reality)....

Good morning! And Merry Christmas! Together, let us pray: O God, you make us glad by the yearly festival of the birth of your only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that we, who joyfully receive him as our Redeemer, may with sure confidence behold him when he comes to be our Judge; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Almighty God, who wonderfully created us in your own image and yet more wonderfully restored us through your Son Jesus Christ: grant that, as he came to share our humanity, so we may share the life of his divinity; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever....