“Dad, what is a parable anyhow?” the young fellow asked. His father, who had fortunately read something about this just recently, answered him on this wise. “Well, kid, let me tell you.” “Well, dad, tell me. That’s why I asked.” “The word parable comes from two Greek words, which together mean to ‘cast or throw …
Day One
This new year, 2009, marks the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth. This milestone is being marked in many different ways, by different institutions and organizations the world over. For just one example, over the course of this next year, New St. Andrews is planning a series of lectures on all things Calvin, and other …
Chump Change Violence
In discussions of violence and the nature of God, one of the biggest issues before us is that of sorting out the relationship of the Old Testament to the New. Also, as it happens, sorting out that relationship is critical to a host of other issues as well — from baptism to church government, from …
Brief Response
Green Baggins continues our discussion, for which I am grateful. This installment, at least from me, will not be very long. Just a few comments. First, the FV statement on “Union with Christ and Imputation” does affirm the central Protestant view of imputation, as opposed to justification by infusion. The second part of the statement …
1975 Was a Good Year
Nancy posted this picture of our wedding on her blog, along with an account of the proceedings. This was thirty-three years ago today, and I continue to be as grateful as a man is allowed to get. I got married at the tender age of 22, and have been married, therefore, for sixty percent of …
Tired Thinking
One of the natural but intellectually lazy responses of theologians in the 20th century was to react to the advent of nuclear weapons with the idea that just war theory was now somehow outdated or tired. There were some exceptions, like John Courtney Murray and Paul Ramsey, but the general tendency was to pay lip …
Armchair Globo-Politicians
As I write, Israeli troops are massed on the border of Gaza, and they are about to go in to topple Hamas. They are doing this in response to a steady stream of rocket/mortar attacks from Gaza. Hamas is trying to provoke just such an invasion, in an attempt at a rope-a-dope strategy. Israel has …
Glory, Honor, Immortality/Romans 8
INTRODUCTION: Paul has already stated his great theme—that the just shall live by faith. This is the great epistle of justification by faith, apart from works of the law. At the same time, it is quite striking that there is no more of a contradiction between Paul and James than there is between Paul in …
The Spirit of Accusation/Romans 6
INTRODUCTION: God’s wrath is taught very clearly in Scripture. Our great problem with it is that we confound it with the spirit of accusation that belongs to the devil, and we show that we do not understand how righteousness, the real thing, interacts with sin. We think we know, but we tend to know only …
An Atheist Challenge Answered
Last night I read through a small booklet that was really quite good — it was called The Easter Answer, and addressed the problem of harmonizing the various accounts of Christ’s resurrection appearances. The author, Stephen Kingsley, is a fellow Idaho pastor who addressed our NSA Disputatio a few years back. In this booklet, he …