Theology

I want to share with you the following prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas Before Study, based on Oratio S. Thomae Aquinatis ante studium, which Thomas Aquinas would pray before studying, writing, or preaching. We prayed it responsively before class (Patristic and Medieval History and Doctrine) with Dr. Piotr Malysz at Beeson Divinity School, and I’ve since turned back to this prayer often! A Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas Before Study O God, Creator of all that is, From the treasures of Your wisdom, You have arrayed the universe with marvelous order, And now govern with skill and might. You are the true fount of light and wisdom. ...

The Problem: Studying the Bible can Quickly Feel Overwhelming Right? Even with helpful books out there like How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (that’s an affiliate link, by the way, meaning that I get a small commission at no cost to you if you end up buying the book), there are still so many potential questions to ask of any biblical text when we study it. How are we supposed to keep questions of authorship, genre, meaning, application, etc. etc. straight when we study the Bible? ...

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? ...

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/) [](https://joshuapsteele.com/maundy-thursday-sermon-the-lasting-supper-luke-2214-30/slide9/) [](https://joshuapsteele.com/maundy-thursday-sermon-the-lasting-supper-luke-2214-30/slide8/) [](https://joshuapsteele.com/maundy-thursday-sermon-the-lasting-supper-luke-2214-30/slide7/) [](https://joshuapsteele.com/maundy-thursday-sermon-the-lasting-supper-luke-2214-30/slide6/) [](https://joshuapsteele.com/maundy-thursday-sermon-the-lasting-supper-luke-2214-30/slide5/) [](https://joshuapsteele.com/maundy-thursday-sermon-the-lasting-supper-luke-2214-30/slide4/) [](https://joshuapsteele.com/maundy-thursday-sermon-the-lasting-supper-luke-2214-30/slide3/) [](https://joshuapsteele.com/maundy-thursday-sermon-the-lasting-supper-luke-2214-30/slide12/) Now, I don’t know about you, but those pictures affect me deeply. The whole idea of a criminal’s last meal affects me deeply. Why? I think it’s because these last meals combine the familiar with the unfamiliar. They combine the expected and the unexpected. I mean, on one hand, you’ve got comfort food. On the other hand, heinous crimes. The stuff of life right next to life’s untimely end. ...

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. In Jesus’ name. Amen. ...

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. Amen. ...

Great news! If you only have a minute to read about wealth, here’s my argument in a nutshell: Outline of My Argument Main Claim: American Christians should reduce their standards of living to what is necessary for human flourishing and give their excess resources beyond this standard to the poor and oppressed. God is the firmest advocate for human flourishing. The pursuit of wealth is spiritually dangerous and crippling. Our culture’s inclinations toward upward financial mobility go against the message of the New Testament and the life of Christ. God is revealed in Scripture to have a special concern for the poor and the oppressed. Christians will be held accountable for how they treat the poor and the oppressed. Objections: This line of reasoning is advocating asceticism and is unbiblical. Christians have every right to keep what they have earned and to do what they wish with their excess funds. Because the poor are lazy, Christians should not feel pressured to give, in case their generosity is taken advantage of. Warrant: Christians want to remain true to Scripture and submit to God’s way of life in order to find satisfaction. (For more on Christianity, wealth, and poverty, see my topical study on what the book of Proverbs has to teach us about poverty.) ...

(A chapel message in a Christian school.) There are a few things you should know about me: I am a student at a Christian seminary. Before that, I went to a Christian college. Before that, I went to a Christian high school, and a Christian middle school. Before that, I was home-schooled, and I grew up in a Christian home. Oh, also: I’m the world’s worst sports fan. I’m serious. The students in my youth group give me a hard time about it. Every week, they’re like, “Josh, did you see the game?!” “Josh, are you going to watch the game?” ...

Readings: Psalm 34; Jeremiah 16:14-21; Mark 1:14-20 Like so many other feast days – scheduled, as they are, on the days of the namesakes’ deaths – the feast day of St. James the Apostle is a strong rebuke to our aspirations. To our aspirations as human beings, and especially to our aspirations as ministers of Christ’s Church. Saint James the Greater, by Rembrandt James & John: Fishermen No More? You see, James started off as a mere fisherman. An admirable one, to be sure, because he and his brother John answered Jesus’ call in Mark 1. They left behind their father, their family, and – they grew to hope! – their family’s fishing profession. ...

Yesterday, I asked you to join the Church if you, like me, are frustrated with the Church. The strongest critiques of religion come from within, not without, the Christian community. Plus, your frustrations are likely shared by many others within the Church! However, it’s not enough to point the finger at others from your pew, instead of doing so from the public square. Yes, that’s a good first step, but another one is necessary. ...

…and by “club” I of course mean “Church”! What am I getting at? Am I calling the Church a mere “club”? No. Although, unfortunately, it often feels that way, doesn’t it? A club full of hypocrisy, idolatry, indifference, and platitudes. A club full of power-plays, fear-mongering, and Bible-thumping. A club full of saints too afraid to admit that they are sinners. Perhaps you’re sick of this “club,” and you’re ready to leave, if you haven’t left already. ...

READINGS Ephesians 5:21-33 – Wives and Husbands Psalm 67 – May God Be Gracious to Us and Bless Us Revelation 19:6-10 – The Marriage Supper of the Lamb Matthew 25:1-13 – The Parable of the Ten Virgins HOMILY What makes a great wedding? Is it the fragrance and color of the flower arrangements? The particular grandeur of the venue? Is it the number and camaraderie of the guests? Or the quality and sound of the music? ...

What would it have been like, on the first Holy Saturday? What would it be like, tonight, if Jesus has been dead for almost 33 hours? All the hopes and dreams of tonight’s readings – shattered. Blown away by the cold winds of death. Jesus of Nazareth lies in a dark grave, and we, his shell-shocked followers, gather to make some sort of sense of this week’s events – to salvage some sort of hope from this week’s wreckage. ...

Hi internet – especially all you Barthians and Bonhoefferians (-ites?) out there. I’m in the process of compiling a reading list, and I could use your suggestions. Here’s my goal: to explore the possible relationship between Barth’s critique of the “No-God”(Nich-Gott) and Bonhoeffer’s critique(s) of viewing God as a “stopgap” (Lückenbüßer) or “working hypothesis.” As far as primary sources go, I plan to focus on the Romans commentary, Garrett Green’s recent re-translation of CD §17, and Letters and Papers from Prison. ...