Moderate Calvinism in England

The personal views of the Reformers are no less convincing. John Hooper (1495-1555) affirmed that Christ died “for the love of us poor and miserable sinners, whose place he occupied upon the cross, as a pledge, or one that represented the person of all the sinners that ever were, be now, or shall be [...]

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I’m Not Making This Up

Ok, lest you think I’ve been setting up a straw-man, here’s a quote where God’s attributes are conflicting with one another:
On the contrary, in these verses [Rom. 3:25-26] God’s righteousness creates a problem for covenant faithfulness and must be satisfied in order that his covenant faithfulness may continue.
~ John Piper The Future of Justification pg. [...]

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Eucharistic Theology Proper

God glorifies Himself in self-giving.

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No Primary in Infinity

Jeez. I’m reading John Piper right now, and while I like a lot of what he has to say and think he’s got good intentions, his use of God’s glory is really troubling. I plan to do a fuller review sometime (after finals!), and I will agree with much of Piper’s book. [...]

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Intriguing Zanchius Quotes

Reading Zanchius is difficult. Sometimes I have to admit I don’t know what he is saying. Other times I have a basic understanding of it. Given his use of “sacramental speech” and his commitment to the free offer of the gospel, these two quotes perk my interest:
VII. Everie one ought stedfastlie to [...]

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New Adam New Cain

Ham intrudes into his Father’s holiness, entering into the eschaton before he is allowed access.  He seeks to draw his brothers into the conflict, but they resist.  Ham’s son, Canaan, takes on the role of new Cain.
Ham’s genealogy is much like Cain’s, and from this line comes Nimrod, the new kingly city-builder.  Nimrod is the [...]

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Tower of Babel

I got this chiasm from J P Fokkelman.
Gen. 11:1-9
A (1) All the earth spoke one language
B (2) They dwelt there
C (3A) Each to one another
D (3B) Let us build building
E (4A) Let us build
F (4B) A city and a tower
X (5A) Yahweh came down to see
‘F (5B) A City and a tower
‘E (5C) The [...]

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Neither Horseshoes Nor Hand Grenades

Francis Watson seeks to go “beyond the New Perspective” in his revamped Paul, Judaism, and the Gentiles. He doesn’t go back to the “Old Perspective,” but he does sharply criticize Dunn and Wright. He argues that Paul is not simply being a good Jew, but radically breaking off from Judaism altogether.
Here, I argue [...]

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Martin Bucer: Our Baptism is Christ’s Baptism

Our baptism, then, is Christ’s baptism, which the church must use, the symbol of our acceptance before God. By this symbol for the first time our regeneration and renewal through the Holy Spirit are offered and presented by words and washing in water, out of God’s kindness towards us in Christ earlier revealed to [...]

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The Joint Councils of Selucia and Arminium

In 358 a rupture occurred between the anti-Nicene party. The Homoiousians became distinct from the Homoeans, and both condemned the Anomeanism of Aeitius and Eunomious who dared to say that the Son was of an “unlike substance” than the Father. Following this another ecumenical council was called by Constantius with hopes of finally [...]

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