Scriptorium Archive
for August, 2011

Meet Colossians

| Theology | 08.29.2011

I. Why Read Colossians? The book of Colossians is tiny (95 verses in 4 chapters), but its scope is enormous. In this letter, Paul looks from prison up to heaven, "where Christ is seated at the right hand of God," and scans the history of God's mighty work of salvation from creation to the return of Christ. In this late letter, Paul presupposes all the truths of the Gospel which he has written about in previous lette... Read More...

Featured Essay

Grace and then Law

| Theology | 08.24.2011

Even if all you read from Wesley’s Standard Sermons is the table of contents, you can see the basic shape of the Christian life. There are two major blocks of material in the Sermons, just as there are two major factors in the Christian life. The collection begins with a loud, clear, trumpet-blast of grace. Wesley starts with the epochal Sermon 1, “Salvation by Faith,” and continues through “The Almost Christian,... Read More...

Additional Scriptorium for August, 2011

Wesley the Worker

| Theology | 08.16.2011

John Wesley was a hard worker, and had tremendous confidence. At age 23, he wrote to Charles, “Leisure and I have taken leave of one another. I propose to be busy as long as I live, if my health is so long indulged me.” He carried out that resolution. Bishop J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) noted Wesley’s “extraordinary diligence, self-denial, and economy of time,” remarkin... Read More...

Featured Essay

The Battle of Roncesvalles: History and Legend

| Literature, On This Day | 08.16.2011

Today, August 15, marks the 1,233rd anniversary of the Battle of Roncesvalles, a pitch battle fought by a contingent of Charlemagne's army led by Roland, the  prefect of the Breton March, against a Basque attack on the Roncesvalles pass while Roland's men were on the retreat. This battle gave birth, about four-hundred years later, to one of the most celebrated epic poems in Fr... Read More...

Gordon Kaufman (1925-2011): Theologian of God in Quotes

| Theology | 08.14.2011

In late July, theologian Gordon Kaufman died. His death is noted by Harvard Divinity School, where he taught for over 45 years. "The depth and scale of Kaufman's work, and his placement at Harvard," noted Gary Dorrien in 2006, "made him the leading theological liberal in the estimation of many observers. Often he was cited as representing the liberal option." (Dorrien, The Mak... Read More...

“Deep Things” as Seminary Textbook

| Theology | 08.13.2011

I've been really glad to see that my 2010 book The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything has been adopted as a textbook by professors at several seminaries. I wrote the book for a general audience, including Christians without formal theological training, but it's meaty enough for grad students, and I've been happy to see it finding a place on syllabi. It cover... Read More...

Featured Essay

Archduke Otto von Habsburg: A Belated Eulogy

| Culture | 08.06.2011

It has been one month since the passing of one of my greatest heroes of the twentieth century. I heard of his passing from my friend Charles Coulombe when I rang him that day, July 4. Both of us agreed that he had been a salient influence in our lives from childhood. He had been a part of my conscious experience for as long as I can remember taking an interest in the history o... Read More...

Featured Essay

Evangelicals Recommending Books

| Theology | 08.02.2011

A hundred years ago, in a 1911 issue of The King's Business, the founders of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles made this proclamation: "Buying and selling books with some, is like buying and selling potatoes --a mere perfunctory business. With us, buying and selling books is a matter of as much spiritual import as teaching the Bible." Could these doughty, radical evangelica... Read More...