Recent Scriptorium
on Theology

Doubt, Truth, and Wonder in Ministry

John Mark Reynolds | Theology | 03.18.2010

Every man wonders, and a man who is sure, beyond any doubts, has no faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God and a man displeasing to God has no business speaking for Him. The man without wonder is unfit for philosophy let alone ministry. It is the great mistake of the age to think that the believers are the ones invested with certainty. We are people of faith and living by faith is sure evidence that w... Read More...

Happy Birthday, Rudolf Stier

Fred Sanders | Theology | 03.16.2010

Today (March 17) Rudolf Ewald Stier (1800 - 1862) was born. Don't feel bad if you've never heard of him, he is little noted nor much remembered these days. Partly because he was so awesome that our puny age cannot handle his sheer awesomeness. Stier did a lot of interesting things as a conservative Lutheran churchman in nineteenth-century Germany. Not only is there an interesting biography of him, but it's available in... Read More...

Archived Scriptorium on Theology

Notes from a Theology Flyover at 50,000 Feet

Fred Sanders | Theology | 03.13.2010

What if you could survey the entire scope of Christian doctrine at once: a brief enough summary to show the whole thing at a glance, but with enough detail to see the various parts and how they relate to each other? As a stand-alone experience, that wouldn't be especially valuable: it would be too much information, too fast, without enough emotional and experiential time f... Read More...

Philippians: Sweet and Unsystematic

Fred Sanders | Theology | 03.10.2010

Philippians is among the sweetest books of the New Testament. It is a short letter from Paul to a congregation that he obviously feels and expresses great affection toward. In 1898, JB Lightfoot, the Bishop of Durham, said that Philippians is “not only the noblest reflexion of St. Paul’s personal character and spiritual illumination, his large sympathies, his womanly tender... Read More...

Organizing the Doctrine of Scripture

Fred Sanders | Theology | 03.10.2010

There is a lot of material to cover in the doctrine of Scripture: everything from its deep background in God's will to redeem us and reveal himself, to the "business end" of the doctrine in providing a user's guide to the English Bible an ordinary believer holds in his or her hand. In between are topics like inspiration, canonization, inerrancy, and authority. How should all o... Read More...

Happy Birthday, A.T. Pierson

Fred Sanders | Theology | 03.06.2010

Today (March 6) is the birthday of A. T. Pierson (1837-1911), one of the most influential figures in the history of conservative Protestantism. An American evangelical, Pierson had an extensive teaching ministry throughout the English-speaking world; the most famous post he held was that he took over the pulpit of the Metropolitan Tabernacle as C.H. Spurgeon's health failed, a... Read More...

A Bully in Nanny’s Clothing

John Mark Reynolds | Theology, Politics | 03.05.2010

It is bad enough if bad information costs you the value of your 401-K, but worse if it costs your soul. Being told you are wrong is important at any time, but hearing that you might be wrong about critical areas is vital. Who wants to be wrong about the big questions of life? No friend would see such a major mistake being made without expressing his opinion. This is espec... Read More...

Wesley’s System of Zeal

Fred Sanders | Theology | 03.01.2010

I'm not sure what came over John Wesley, but one day he got positively excited about the idea of showing the organic, systematic structure of Christian faith. This kind of passion for understanding structural relationships was not his normal way of working: he was a preacher and a world-changer, not a theological ponderer or chart-maker. But on at least one occasion, he took up... Read More...

A Calvinist Apology

Allen Yeh | Misc., Education, Theology | 03.01.2010

The word “apology,” in theological circles, often means a defense of one’s faith. In more common parlance, the word “apology” means admitting a wrong and asking for forgiveness. I actually want to do the latter. Earlier this week, I led a couple of class sessions on Paul’s epistle to the Romans. We mostly focused on chapters 9-11, as they are some of the tou... Read More...

“Where Are You Hiding the Jews?”

Fred Sanders | Theology | 02.27.2010

In an age when Hitler has become a punch-line, a youtube "downfall" meme, and the barometer of when an argument has reached its limits (reductio ad hitlerum), it's hard to feel the weight of the armed anti-semitism of the mid-20th century. After decades of classroom ethics dilemmas like "If lying is always wrong, would you tell the truth if Nazis asked you if you were hiding Je... Read More...

Let’s Argue the Truth of Our Ideas

John Mark Reynolds | Theology, Politics | 02.26.2010

The problem with American foreign policy is that it never considers that a particular religious belief might be true or that some beliefs might be false. We don’t argue with religious folk, we attempt to placate them. There is a weird American notion that people can be persuaded to abandon their religious point of view if we only send them enough CNN, MTV, and uplifting Obama... Read More...

Church Membership: Salvation, Sacrament, Strategy, or Seriousness?

Fred Sanders | Theology | 02.25.2010

Here is a brief thought project prompted by several years of teaching the new members class at my home church (an Evangelical Free Church of America congregation that appeals to serious-minded conservatives). This is not the way I teach the subject in the class, but it is how I've been connecting some of the dots about membership recently. What is church membership? Specific... Read More...

Evangelicalism vs. Ecumenism: Truth or Unity?

Allen Yeh | Theology | 02.24.2010

It’s ironic that the words “evangelicalism” and “ecumenism” are seen as diametrically opposed, because Christians really need both. The former camp majors on truth, while the latter on unity. Why is this? Evangelicals hold to the evangel, i.e. the Gospel, which is often interpreted as doctrine (though I would argue that those are slightly different despite there ... Read More...

Review of Morey’s Embodying our Faith

Greg Peters | Theology | 02.24.2010

Tim Morey’s Embodying our Faith: Becoming a Living, Sharing, Practicing Church (InterVarsity, 2009) is an enjoyable read. As a reworking of his Fuller Theological Seminary D.Min. thesis, Morey’s text is engaging, his writing style friendly and his content engaging. In seven chapters, Morey gives a well-reasoned defense for what he calls an “embodied apologetic,” that is... Read More...

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