Thoughts on ethics, society, politics, religion, philosophy, theology, and everything in between
For many Christians, the significance of the cross of Jesus Christ is that Jesus suffered, so we do not have to suffer. Jesus died, so we do not have to worry about dying. Jesus paid the penalty of our sins, so we do not have to worry about repenting from sin and making painful sacrifices … Read more
A year ago, I made the case for the importance of theological ethics. If Christians want to live faithfully, we cannot uncritically absorb the ethical ideas of our surrounding culture. Nor can we rely on our intuitions and feelings, since these often lead us astray. Nor can we simply look in the Bible for proof … Read more
Theological Method Before beginning an investigation of a particular subject, it is important to establish a clear and consistent method for determining what is true as it relates to that subject. This is true regarding the subject of theology, just as much as it is with other subjects, such as science and history. A person … Read more
The Bible is the Church’s primary and ultimate Authority for determining what Christians should believe and how they should live. But what does that mean? How can this collection of writings from 2,000 years ago or more tell us how we should think and live today? How can this one book have things to say … Read more
One of the most prominent contemporary theological debates among Christians who believe Scripture is the Authoritative word of God revolves around the inerrancy of Scripture. According to the doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture, the Bible is completely free of any errors on any topic, including science, history, and so forth (This is to be … Read more
In recent decades, some Christians have claimed that the Authority of the Jesus of the Gospels is greater than the authority of the apostle Paul. Since Jesus, the Incarnate Word of God, is the ultimate revelation of God, they argue, the example and teaching of Jesus in the Gospels is of higher Authority than the … Read more
The Bible is a collection of various writings that make up the Scriptures of Christianity. But what does it mean to call the Bible “Scripture”? At the risk of oversimplification, I will distinguish between five basic Christian positions on this issue: Scripture is an expression of the human religious experience of people in the past … Read more
In a previous post, I addressed a popular interpretation of the Protestant principle of sola scriptura (“Scripture alone”), arguing that Protestants still must acknowledge church tradition to be to some extent authoritative, even if Scripture is their highest theological authority. In this post, I will address a popular interpretation of the Protestant principle of sola … Read more
In my last post, I examined how paying close attention to some key Old Testament citations in the Gospel of Mark can help us better understand the theological teachings of Mark’s Gospel. In this post, I will examine how paying close attention to how the New Testament uses the Old Testament to talk about Jesus … Read more
Most Christians understand the point of the Gospel of Mark to be this: Jesus is God, and He came to die on a cross as a sacrifice for our sins so we could be forgiven (while giving us some good moral teachings along the way). All of this may be true as far as it … Read more