Carrie Gress's work, The End of Woman, offers a too-little seen history of the leading lights of ... more Carrie Gress's work, The End of Woman, offers a too-little seen history of the leading lights of feminism. In the process, she chronicles the destructive family tree of the movement that has wreaked havoc for women's happiness and ultimately evacuated all meaning from the word "woman."
A series of eight posts from Talbot School of Theology's faculty blog exploring the biblical stor... more A series of eight posts from Talbot School of Theology's faculty blog exploring the biblical story of gender as a two-fold proposition of equality and difference for the relationship. Includes applications for church, family and society from a complementarian perspective.
Salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22) is a narrative-controlling assertion by our Lord about th... more Salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22) is a narrative-controlling assertion by our Lord about the Bible's messianic promise of redemption. With it, Jesus presumes the validity of the Old Testament (OT) account of God's program to restore blessing to every dimension of His fallen creation-an account that concluded with hope for a restoration of the human heart, human social orders and institutions, and ultimately the material world itself.2 However, as R. Kendall Soulen and others have demonstrated, especially over the last thirty years, the soon-to-be Gentile-dominated church of Jesus Christ curtailed the OT narrative of Jesus' reference down to a mere individualized and spiritualized core.3 The full-throated New Covenant hope of the prophets became a truncated shell of salvation for the soul with a summum bonum of union with God alone. By Soulen's account, this novel "Traditional Canonical Narrative" of the church was possible only by elimination of Israel's story from the Christian proclamation.4 In this presentation, I want to take up Soulen's claim that a theologically sound summary of the Bible's account of redemption must include the paradigm provided by the nation of Israel or be found redeeming something less than the totality of human life. Specifically, I will claim that a full account of human salvation includes our nationhood, and that this dimension of God's redemptive plan is the essential contribution that Israel past and future provides to Scripture's narrative. Two pillars establish this claim: 1) human 1 It is an honor to contribute to this volume for my brother in the faith and colleague, Mitch Glaser, whose tireless labor for the Jewish people and their place in the Bible's story continues to be a profound source of encouragement and counsel for me. 2 These are the three dimensions of Gowan's summary of the prophetic hope at the end of the OT (Donald E. Gowan, Eschatology of the Old Testament [Philadelphia: Fortress, 1986], 2). Gowan's summary remains consensual among OT scholars despite recent attempts within Progressive Covenantalism to change the multinational character of the prophetic vision. See a thorough response in Andrew H.
This essay explores recent discussion – primarily with Volker Rabens’s The Holy Spirit and Ethics... more This essay explores recent discussion – primarily with Volker Rabens’s The Holy Spirit and Ethics in Paul – of how exactly the Holy Spirit effects ethical transformation in the new covenant’s members. The essay is broken into three parts. Part one will briefly establish the prophesied new covenant centre of the NT. From this part two will consider the biblical anthropological matrix for ethical transformation in the domain of the believer’s heart. Finally, part three will take up the NT writers’ account of the Spirit poured into the believer’s heart with an eye to the specific means the Spirit uses on the heart to effect ethical transformation. The Spirit as the minister of the grace of God in new relationship, as opposed to a sacramentally infused substance, will confirm Rabens’s thesis as a good expression of Paul’s teaching, and also the teaching of the greater corpus of Scripture.
or the seventeen or so years of independence one of the ardently sought goals of thoughtful evang... more or the seventeen or so years of independence one of the ardently sought goals of thoughtful evangelicals in the newly freed lands of the former Soviet Union has been a national theology. The desire for culturally contextualized answers to culturally contextualized questions is, of course, natural and valid and one I value for myself and Christians everywhere. Also driving the case in our context is an understandable and palpable frustration with the means offered for this task by Western missionary educators. Economic circumstances being what they are, it has been easy for Western missionaries to travel and teach in the East while Eastern evangelicals struggle with the means to keep body and soul together let alone to pursue serious theological reflection. The challenging side of such a scenario has meant for some a semi-colonization of Eastern evangelical thought by the West in the last couple of years. Western approaches, modes of thought, starting points, emphases, and blind spot...
... In the second part I will attempt some application of new covenant principles to the question... more ... In the second part I will attempt some application of new covenant principles to the question of the contextualization of the gospel for the Slavic ... 12 On the mediation in the temple cult in these three areas see David Peterson, Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Wor ship ...
... Introduc-tion to the Parables of Jesus (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1981), 53-71; Bastiaan Van... more ... Introduc-tion to the Parables of Jesus (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1981), 53-71; Bastiaan Van Elderen, "The Purpose of Parables according to Matthew 13:10-17," in New Di-mensions in New Testament Study, ed. Richard N. Longenecker and Merrill C. Tenney (Grand Rapids ...
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 2017
This essay engages the conversation about the significance and meaning of work in the present tim... more This essay engages the conversation about the significance and meaning of work in the present time by framing it within the Bible’s new covenant meta-narrative. Overor underrealizing the new covenant’s phases, which are centered in the two comings of Christ, has bearing on how one will see the purpose of work in culture-making in the present time. The article will sketch the Bible’s plot line for work beginning with the cultural mandate for Adam, then move to the compromised state of this mandate evident from Noah to the present. Finally, Israel’s prophets will chart the course through the NT documents for a possibility of our work's impact on culture that will ultimately dominate the nations of the world when the Lord's anointed Servant-Prince returns in glory. This narrative calls for us to be sober in our claims for the cultural impact of our work in the present time but also not to see our work now as merely futile background for "spiritual" victories while we ...
The nature and practice of ordination by the laying on of hands is potentially a complex issue in... more The nature and practice of ordination by the laying on of hands is potentially a complex issue in Scripture. The complete absence of direct teaching on the subject means that we are left with the few texts where ordination is described together with broad theological trajectories arcing throughout the whole Bible. 1 Thus, in one sense the ground to cover is small and, in another sense, it is vast. Additionally, ordination comes deeply embedded in the larger issues of church authority and models of church government which different Christian denominations have practiced and even defined themselves by for centuries—and all claiming biblical support. In general, these models for ordination are two: (1) Ministry and authority that comes from " above " or outside a local church body—the Word of God for a local congregation comes by means of a hierarchical system in which ordination grants status to those in the system; and (2) Ministry and authority from " below " where the Word of God resides fundamentally in the membership of the local church and ordination is a local church's recognition and commission of its members into particular aspects of Gospel ministry in their midst. It is the conclusion of this essay that the biblical, theological and historical evidence strongly calls for the second view of authority above as the context for understanding ordination. In meaning and practice our understanding of ordination must reflect the new condition of the Church under the New Covenant where matters of form and mediation are second or even non-existent by comparison to the believer's own faith in Christ and filling with the Holy Spirit. It is by means and authority of the Gospel itself that the Church of Jesus Christ remains itself through time. In the pursuit of this thesis we will consider first the biblical passages that address ordination explicitly. This part will also briefly consider the variety of applications in Scripture for the act of laying on hands as it accompanies the modern and ancient biblical practice of ordination. From these relatively few and concrete examples and the larger concept of holiness, in part two we will move more broadly into the new covenant reality of the Church of Jesus Christ to press into the proposal that ordination creates a mystical union between the church and its ordained. 2 The forms and practices of the Church follow its nature. Thus,
For the seventeen or so years of independence one of the ardently sought goals of thoughtful evan... more For the seventeen or so years of independence one of the ardently sought goals of thoughtful evangelicals in the newly freed lands of the former Soviet Union has been for a national theology. The desire for culturally contextualized answers to culturally contextualized questions is, of course, natural and valid and one I value for myself and Christians everywhere. Also driving the case in our context is an understandable and palpable frustration with the means offered for this task by western missionary educators. Economic circumstances being what they are, it has been easy for western missionaries to travel and teach in the east while eastern evangelicals struggle with the means to keep body and soul together let alone to pursue serious theological reflection. The challenging side of such a scenario has meant for some a semi-colonization of eastern evangelical thought by the west in the last couple of years. Western approaches, modes of thought, starting points, emphases and blind spots, all dominate the theological education project as western texts get translated and western teachers come with little or no awareness of the eastern Church's long history and cherished intellectual tradition. The positive side of the current situation for evangelicals in the east is the potential for cross-pollination and enrichment that typically attains when different cultures listen to one another. This essay hopes to be a contribution in that latter category more than the former.
Carrie Gress's work, The End of Woman, offers a too-little seen history of the leading lights of ... more Carrie Gress's work, The End of Woman, offers a too-little seen history of the leading lights of feminism. In the process, she chronicles the destructive family tree of the movement that has wreaked havoc for women's happiness and ultimately evacuated all meaning from the word "woman."
A series of eight posts from Talbot School of Theology's faculty blog exploring the biblical stor... more A series of eight posts from Talbot School of Theology's faculty blog exploring the biblical story of gender as a two-fold proposition of equality and difference for the relationship. Includes applications for church, family and society from a complementarian perspective.
Salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22) is a narrative-controlling assertion by our Lord about th... more Salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22) is a narrative-controlling assertion by our Lord about the Bible's messianic promise of redemption. With it, Jesus presumes the validity of the Old Testament (OT) account of God's program to restore blessing to every dimension of His fallen creation-an account that concluded with hope for a restoration of the human heart, human social orders and institutions, and ultimately the material world itself.2 However, as R. Kendall Soulen and others have demonstrated, especially over the last thirty years, the soon-to-be Gentile-dominated church of Jesus Christ curtailed the OT narrative of Jesus' reference down to a mere individualized and spiritualized core.3 The full-throated New Covenant hope of the prophets became a truncated shell of salvation for the soul with a summum bonum of union with God alone. By Soulen's account, this novel "Traditional Canonical Narrative" of the church was possible only by elimination of Israel's story from the Christian proclamation.4 In this presentation, I want to take up Soulen's claim that a theologically sound summary of the Bible's account of redemption must include the paradigm provided by the nation of Israel or be found redeeming something less than the totality of human life. Specifically, I will claim that a full account of human salvation includes our nationhood, and that this dimension of God's redemptive plan is the essential contribution that Israel past and future provides to Scripture's narrative. Two pillars establish this claim: 1) human 1 It is an honor to contribute to this volume for my brother in the faith and colleague, Mitch Glaser, whose tireless labor for the Jewish people and their place in the Bible's story continues to be a profound source of encouragement and counsel for me. 2 These are the three dimensions of Gowan's summary of the prophetic hope at the end of the OT (Donald E. Gowan, Eschatology of the Old Testament [Philadelphia: Fortress, 1986], 2). Gowan's summary remains consensual among OT scholars despite recent attempts within Progressive Covenantalism to change the multinational character of the prophetic vision. See a thorough response in Andrew H.
This essay explores recent discussion – primarily with Volker Rabens’s The Holy Spirit and Ethics... more This essay explores recent discussion – primarily with Volker Rabens’s The Holy Spirit and Ethics in Paul – of how exactly the Holy Spirit effects ethical transformation in the new covenant’s members. The essay is broken into three parts. Part one will briefly establish the prophesied new covenant centre of the NT. From this part two will consider the biblical anthropological matrix for ethical transformation in the domain of the believer’s heart. Finally, part three will take up the NT writers’ account of the Spirit poured into the believer’s heart with an eye to the specific means the Spirit uses on the heart to effect ethical transformation. The Spirit as the minister of the grace of God in new relationship, as opposed to a sacramentally infused substance, will confirm Rabens’s thesis as a good expression of Paul’s teaching, and also the teaching of the greater corpus of Scripture.
or the seventeen or so years of independence one of the ardently sought goals of thoughtful evang... more or the seventeen or so years of independence one of the ardently sought goals of thoughtful evangelicals in the newly freed lands of the former Soviet Union has been a national theology. The desire for culturally contextualized answers to culturally contextualized questions is, of course, natural and valid and one I value for myself and Christians everywhere. Also driving the case in our context is an understandable and palpable frustration with the means offered for this task by Western missionary educators. Economic circumstances being what they are, it has been easy for Western missionaries to travel and teach in the East while Eastern evangelicals struggle with the means to keep body and soul together let alone to pursue serious theological reflection. The challenging side of such a scenario has meant for some a semi-colonization of Eastern evangelical thought by the West in the last couple of years. Western approaches, modes of thought, starting points, emphases, and blind spot...
... In the second part I will attempt some application of new covenant principles to the question... more ... In the second part I will attempt some application of new covenant principles to the question of the contextualization of the gospel for the Slavic ... 12 On the mediation in the temple cult in these three areas see David Peterson, Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Wor ship ...
... Introduc-tion to the Parables of Jesus (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1981), 53-71; Bastiaan Van... more ... Introduc-tion to the Parables of Jesus (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1981), 53-71; Bastiaan Van Elderen, "The Purpose of Parables according to Matthew 13:10-17," in New Di-mensions in New Testament Study, ed. Richard N. Longenecker and Merrill C. Tenney (Grand Rapids ...
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 2017
This essay engages the conversation about the significance and meaning of work in the present tim... more This essay engages the conversation about the significance and meaning of work in the present time by framing it within the Bible’s new covenant meta-narrative. Overor underrealizing the new covenant’s phases, which are centered in the two comings of Christ, has bearing on how one will see the purpose of work in culture-making in the present time. The article will sketch the Bible’s plot line for work beginning with the cultural mandate for Adam, then move to the compromised state of this mandate evident from Noah to the present. Finally, Israel’s prophets will chart the course through the NT documents for a possibility of our work's impact on culture that will ultimately dominate the nations of the world when the Lord's anointed Servant-Prince returns in glory. This narrative calls for us to be sober in our claims for the cultural impact of our work in the present time but also not to see our work now as merely futile background for "spiritual" victories while we ...
The nature and practice of ordination by the laying on of hands is potentially a complex issue in... more The nature and practice of ordination by the laying on of hands is potentially a complex issue in Scripture. The complete absence of direct teaching on the subject means that we are left with the few texts where ordination is described together with broad theological trajectories arcing throughout the whole Bible. 1 Thus, in one sense the ground to cover is small and, in another sense, it is vast. Additionally, ordination comes deeply embedded in the larger issues of church authority and models of church government which different Christian denominations have practiced and even defined themselves by for centuries—and all claiming biblical support. In general, these models for ordination are two: (1) Ministry and authority that comes from " above " or outside a local church body—the Word of God for a local congregation comes by means of a hierarchical system in which ordination grants status to those in the system; and (2) Ministry and authority from " below " where the Word of God resides fundamentally in the membership of the local church and ordination is a local church's recognition and commission of its members into particular aspects of Gospel ministry in their midst. It is the conclusion of this essay that the biblical, theological and historical evidence strongly calls for the second view of authority above as the context for understanding ordination. In meaning and practice our understanding of ordination must reflect the new condition of the Church under the New Covenant where matters of form and mediation are second or even non-existent by comparison to the believer's own faith in Christ and filling with the Holy Spirit. It is by means and authority of the Gospel itself that the Church of Jesus Christ remains itself through time. In the pursuit of this thesis we will consider first the biblical passages that address ordination explicitly. This part will also briefly consider the variety of applications in Scripture for the act of laying on hands as it accompanies the modern and ancient biblical practice of ordination. From these relatively few and concrete examples and the larger concept of holiness, in part two we will move more broadly into the new covenant reality of the Church of Jesus Christ to press into the proposal that ordination creates a mystical union between the church and its ordained. 2 The forms and practices of the Church follow its nature. Thus,
For the seventeen or so years of independence one of the ardently sought goals of thoughtful evan... more For the seventeen or so years of independence one of the ardently sought goals of thoughtful evangelicals in the newly freed lands of the former Soviet Union has been for a national theology. The desire for culturally contextualized answers to culturally contextualized questions is, of course, natural and valid and one I value for myself and Christians everywhere. Also driving the case in our context is an understandable and palpable frustration with the means offered for this task by western missionary educators. Economic circumstances being what they are, it has been easy for western missionaries to travel and teach in the east while eastern evangelicals struggle with the means to keep body and soul together let alone to pursue serious theological reflection. The challenging side of such a scenario has meant for some a semi-colonization of eastern evangelical thought by the west in the last couple of years. Western approaches, modes of thought, starting points, emphases and blind spots, all dominate the theological education project as western texts get translated and western teachers come with little or no awareness of the eastern Church's long history and cherished intellectual tradition. The positive side of the current situation for evangelicals in the east is the potential for cross-pollination and enrichment that typically attains when different cultures listen to one another. This essay hopes to be a contribution in that latter category more than the former.
Supersessionism’s assumption of national Israel’s promises by the Church, a non-nationed entity, ... more Supersessionism’s assumption of national Israel’s promises by the Church, a non-nationed entity, denies a soteriological significance to theocracy. This essay will pursue a biblical-theological and anthropological study of the role of national identity in human life and why redemption of this dimension in a restored nation-state of Israel is necessary for a fully formed biblical soteriology. The essay will follow the biblical plotline starting with the Garden of Eden and humankind created according to God’s image in which the image includes the commission to subject hostile forces in an ever-expanding advance of Eden’s culture. This divinely commissioned trajectory necessarily includes human political and social institutions, as these parts of human life are never separated from the spiritual/religious, as the “gods of the nations” concept in the OT demonstrates. This means human political life is included in the fabric of Eden’s mandate and is first displayed to the world in Israel’s theocracy. Adam and Israel’s failure in the Bible’s Story calls for the restoration of humanity and the human commission. According to Israel’s prophets this restoration must and will touch all dimensions of human life in a domination of sin that extends to the conversion/subjugation of nations before God’s King and his people. The NT presents the fulfillment of this prophetic vision in the person and work of Jesus Christ as not taking place in this Age as Supersession attempts in the Church, but when the Messianic King returns. The world needs a theocracy that rules over sin and evil not just as vindication from national evil of the present, but as fulfillment of the human calling to produce a culture that dominates evil at every level, including the political/national. This dimension of human salvation Supersessionism cannot deliver in its understanding of the NT Church as the fulfillment of the visions of Israel’s prophets.
The Story of Israel's God taking on human flesh, humbling himself to the point of death for the s... more The Story of Israel's God taking on human flesh, humbling himself to the point of death for the sake of our redemption, and then rising again to exalted glory is the very center of Christianity. It is also a Story deeply personal to every follower of Jesus Christ defining the manner and purpose of the Christian life. The more deeply we understand the different phases of this incarnation Story, the more deeply we will understand its call and empowerment for our lives. This essay will sketch the four-phased " career " of the Logos who took on human flesh: Phase One—immortal pre-existence as a person of the Triune Godhead; Phase Two—mortal existence as the God-man Jesus of Nazareth; Phase Three—resurrection immortality of Jesus Christ; and Phase Four—exalted God-man ascended to the right hand of the Father. A second section will consider the implications of the incarnation Story for the life and faith of every believer of Jesus Christ. This section will offer insights from the Career of the Logos for a sharper picture of the Christian's own transformation through suffering and a full humanity that is defined by the Trinity's love and the empowerment of the Spirit in our life and work. Christian theologian and missionary, Lesslie Newbigin, once noted the importance of a Master Story for one's life saying, " The way we understand human life depends on what conception we have of the human story. " 1 He suggests further that whether we realize it or not we are deeply defined by what story our life is a part.2 Our " Master Story " informs all we do answering for us why we are here, what we should pursue and reject, what is " good " or not, where we came from and where we are going. For the follower of Jesus Christ, of course, it is the Scripture that tells our Story, but more specifically, the Story Scripture tells is about Jesus Christ.3 Paul himself says that it is the incarnation of the God of Israel that framed the Master Story for his own life. In his letter to the Philippian church, the Story of his God coming to earth and " taking the form of a bond servant, " humbling himself to the point of death on a cross, and then again returning to exalted status defined his own life (Phil. 2:5 – 11). 4 In this Story Paul found his own identity, mission, calling, and ethics, his understanding of Christ and God Himself, and even the course of world history. In this essay I will examine briefly the four phases of the Incarnation's Master Story and the implications they bring for the Christian life. For as it was with Paul, this Story defines all of God's people, and as we shall see, awareness of its movements will provide a frame for our own reading of Scripture and life as followers of Jesus Christ. The Incarnation Story moves in four parts: 1) Pre-existence of the Logos, or Son; 2) Taking on mortal human flesh; 3) resurrection to immortality; and finally 4) ascension to an exalted state. Of course, the entire New Testament traces this Master Story in its account of how Israel's God fulfilled the New Covenant in the person of Jesus Christ.5 But it is all too easy to confuse the phases and miss a true humanity that is the model for our own. Questions of application quickly dot the horizon.
I am honored to be here at this occasion to offer some remarks on a topic of deep passion for our... more I am honored to be here at this occasion to offer some remarks on a topic of deep passion for our colleague Judith Mendelsohn Rood and one that is also at the heart of Biola’s own confessional identity: Zionism. Now, it is unfortunate but true that in some, even many, circles today the mere mention of Zionism is met with a darkened countenance and furrowed brows. It’s the repulsive “Z-word” that supposedly hails from some quirky apocalyptic millennarian sects of the 19th century that evokes images of xenophobia and narrow nationalistic self-interest. And what’s worse, this “Zionism” commits the greatest possible prevarication by Reinhold Niebuhr’s taxonomy of sin : it sanctions its perversions with God’s good name. Rosemary Radford Ruethers’ statement sums it up well: However much Christians need to honor the Jewish people and Judaism as our religious ancestors, Christians cannot accept an ethnocentric notion of God and of God’s election of one people at the expense of others. Fundamental to Christian theology is a belief that God is a god of all nations, all peoples. In Christ there is no more Jew or Greek (Gal 3:28). No one people is especially favored by God against others. In Ruether’s reading, Zionism is a true wolf in sheep’s clothing, a nefarious theological trope that in God’s name does violence to God himself and his program for the world! In these few minutes we have today, I hope to examine the biblical claims behind the charges for those like Ruether, for whom Zionism is anything but a generous theology of history. Specifically, these charges are that (1) particularism, or God’s election of one people, is done at the expense of other peoples, and, (2) that God’s universalism, or God being the God of all nations, means the elimination of human national distinctions (re: “…neither Jew nor Greek,” Gal 3:28). My thesis today is that such pretenses represent a profoundly deficient reading of God’s word and a serious captivity to humanist-centered values of the age in which we live. Expressed more positively: a close reading of Scripture will bring us closer to a picture of God’s heart for his creation that I know my friend and colleague Judith shares passionately: that the God of history has scripted a generous narrative for all of the world’s people—indeed by his nature he can do nothing other, and this he has done so through the particular choice of Israel. In other words, God is a “Biblical Zionist”, and such truths are the backbone of the Jesus’ announcement: “For God so loved the world…” and “Salvation is from the Jews.”
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However much Christians need to honor the Jewish people and Judaism as our religious ancestors, Christians cannot accept an ethnocentric notion of God and of God’s election of one people at the expense of others. Fundamental to Christian theology is a belief that God is a god of all nations, all peoples. In Christ there is no more Jew or Greek (Gal 3:28). No one people is especially favored by God against others.
In Ruether’s reading, Zionism is a true wolf in sheep’s clothing, a nefarious theological trope that in God’s name does violence to God himself and his program for the world!
In these few minutes we have today, I hope to examine the biblical claims behind the charges for those like Ruether, for whom Zionism is anything but a generous theology of history. Specifically, these charges are that (1) particularism, or God’s election of one people, is done at the expense of other peoples, and, (2) that God’s universalism, or God being the God of all nations, means the elimination of human national distinctions (re: “…neither Jew nor Greek,” Gal 3:28). My thesis today is that such pretenses represent a profoundly deficient reading of God’s word and a serious captivity to humanist-centered values of the age in which we live. Expressed more positively: a close reading of Scripture will bring us closer to a picture of God’s heart for his creation that I know my friend and colleague Judith shares passionately: that the God of history has scripted a generous narrative for all of the world’s people—indeed by his nature he can do nothing other, and this he has done so through the particular choice of Israel. In other words, God is a “Biblical Zionist”, and such truths are the backbone of the Jesus’ announcement: “For God so loved the world…” and “Salvation is from the Jews.”