Theology

Kevin Briggins recently published a piece titled “Minneapolis, ICE, and the Christian Response” that attempts to offer Christians a balanced framework for thinking about the recent unrest in Minneapolis. I don’t think it succeeds. The piece frames itself as balanced, but the scrutiny only flows in one direction. Briggins examines ICE opponents’ rhetoric in detail, attributes their concerns to emotional manipulation, and barely acknowledges that ICE itself might bear any responsibility for what’s happened. ...

I keep seeing the same rhetorical move, and it’s making me furious. An ICE agent shoots someone on video. The administration lies about it in ways that would make Orwell blush. And the response from certain Christian commentators? “Let’s not fan the flames.” “We shouldn’t rush to conclusions.” “There are extremes on both sides.” This posture has the appearance of wisdom. It sounds mature, measured, above the fray. It positions the speaker as the reasonable adult in the room while everyone else loses their heads. ...

Tired of hearing Christians go nuclear over a verse in Revelation or a line from Genesis? Me too. We can do better. (Note: I’ve frequently failed at this myself, so consider this a reminder for me as much as for you.) Here’s how to have a theological argument without losing your cool — or your brother or sister in Christ. 1. The Problem: Why Most Theological Arguments Go Sideways Most bad theological arguments have the same ingredients: ...

No kings, save One, the King of Kings, whose kingdom peace and justice brings. No kings, but He who blessed the poor, and binds their wounds forevermore. No kings, except the Crucified, who, on a tyrant’s cross, died – No kings! – to save the last, the least, and bring them to His wedding feast. No kings, save One, who wore a crown of bitter thorns upon His brow. No kings, but He who rose to save, to lift the outcasts from their grave. ...

“The Bible is clear…” “The Bible says…” “The Bible is for/against…” How often—especially within American evangelicalism—do these phrases become rhetorical battering rams for partisan talking points? Let’s be honest: the Bible is not a monolith. It is a library of ancient, inspired texts written across centuries, cultures, and genres. “What the Bible says” on any given topic often depends heavily on who’s reading, how they’re reading, and what they bring to the text. ...

In his “Letters and Papers from Prison,” Dietrich Bonhoeffer made some remarkably insightful observations about the nature of stupidity and its dangers to society. These reflections, perhaps more relevant today than ever, deserve our careful attention. Here they are in full. On Stupidity (DBWE 8:43-44) Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed—in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical—and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for when dealing with a stupid person than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous. ...

TL;DR: If you’re serious about biblical and theological studies, you should invest in Logos 10 Bible Software. Do so via my exclusive partner offer for Logos 10 here! If I could go back in time and chat with Joshua Steele when he was a Bible & Spanish major in college, there are a few things I’d tell my younger self: Quit laughing at How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and READ the thing. Baba ghanoush is superior to hummus. Study computer science sooner rather than later. Bite the bullet and INVEST IN A LOGOS BIBLE SOFTWARE LIBRARY. Don’t get me wrong. I love physical books as much as anyone, and I own quite a few (hundred)! ...

Help me out. I’m looking for the best, clearest, and most charitable explanations of the following three things: the biblical and theological reasons for caring about social justice and systemic racism, the unfair ways in which some have used accusations of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Cultural Marxism to sideline legitimate Christian concerns about social justice and systemic racism, and the legitimate Christian critiques of CRT and Marxism. Now, I know that there are plenty of resources out there that address each of the three items above! ...

In the ongoing debate about women’s ordination (in the Anglican realm and beyond), I keep hearing oversimplified claims from hierarchicalists (or “complementarians,” but that’s not the most helpful term in this debate) that they have the entirety of the Bible and Church tradition on their side. Therefore, we mutualists (or “egalitarians,” but that’s not the most helpful term in this debate), it is argued, have arrived at our positions for various reasons—perhaps capitulation to liberal cultural trends and hermeneutical methods—but not because we’ve read Scripture or studied the history of the Church very carefully. ...

The Cambridge Companion to Dietrich Bonhoeffer SOURCE (Amazon affiliate link): John W. de Gruchy, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), xxiv–xxvi. 1906, 4 February, Dietrich Bonhoeffer born in Breslau, Germany 1912 Family moves to Berlin, where Karl Bonhoeffer, Dietrich’s father, takes up a position at Berlin University 1913 Dietrich Bonhoeffer begins gymnasium studies 1916 Family moves to the suburb of Grunewald 1918 Walter Bonhoeffer, Dietrich’s brother, dies on the western front ...

Which theological terms would make your shortlist? Here’s the list of terms found in “Jargon-Busting: A Glossary of Theological Terms,” at the back of Alister E. McGrath’s excellent Christian Theology: An Introduction (25th Anniversary Edition). adoptionism aggiornamento Alexandrian School allegory Anabaptism analogy of being (analogia entis) analogy of faith (analogia fidei) anthropomorphism Antiochene School anti-Pelagian writings apocalyptic apologetics apophatic apostolic era appropriation Arianism atonement Barthian beatific vision Beatitudes Calvinism Cappadocian fathers Cartesianism catechism catharsis catholic Chalcedonian definition charisma, charismatic Charismatic movement Christology circumincessio conciliarism confession consubstantial consubstantiation contemplation creed Deism dialectical theology Docetism Donatism doxology Ebionitism ecclesiology Enlightenment eschatology Eucharist evangelical exegesis exemplarism fathers fideism filioque Five Ways fourth gospel fundamentalism hermeneutics hesychasm historical Jesus historico-critical method history of religions school homoousios humanism hypostatic union icons ideology incarnation justification by faith, doctrine of kenoticism kerygma liberal Protestantism liberation theology liturgy logos Lutheranism Manicheism modalism monophysitism neo-orthodoxy ontological argument orthodoxy parousia patripassianism patristic Pelagianism perichoresis Pietism postliberalism postmodernism praxis Protestantism Quadriga radical Reformation Reformed Sabellianism sacrament schism scholasticism Scripture principle Socinianism soteriology synoptic gospels synoptic problem theodicy theopaschitism theotokos Thomism transubstantiation Trinity two natures, doctrine of typology Vulgate Zwinglianism

Over on his blog, “Non Sermoni Res,” Dr. William Witt has written several excellent essays on the topic of women’s ordination. Here’s the guide that Witt put together in order to orient readers to his essays. What I’ve done is to combine the blog posts into a single PDF, with bookmarks. Here it is: Witt_Womens-Ordination-Essays (PDF)

It just happened again. I had to consult “BDAG,” A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (3rd ed.). I don’t own a copy, so every time I have to consult BDAG I think “I really should buy this.” But for the past decade or so, primarily because of BDAG’s cost ($150 on Logos, $130 used on Amazon, $165 new on Amazon) I’ve held off. Nevertheless, I’m seeking to build my “must-have” personal reference library to sustain a ministry as a pastor theologian. So, I think I need to buy BDAG sometime soon. While I’m at it, I might as well get HALOT, the Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament… Logos sells them as a bundle. ...

I’ve always wanted to learn more about Andrei Rublev’s famous icon of the Trinity. If you’re also curious, check out this video.