In too many ways to get into, theology has been detached from Christian practice.  This is tragic, since theology is critical reflection on what we’re doing as followers of Jesus.  It isn’t an abstract pursuit for its own sake without any practical payoff. Bruce Longenecker nicely captures the relationship of theological language to the flourishing […]

I’m looking for a few readings for my Galatians class on justification, and I came across this excellent few paragraphs. Who said it? In its universal sense justification seems to underlie Paul’s argument for the universality of the gospel; there is no distinction between Jews and Gentiles.  But in its more restricted sense justification is […]

Michael Pahl has some excellent posts on what it means to be evangelical, issuing a call for radical evangelicalism. He notes some of evangelicalism’s problems, including its tribalizing tendencies and its grasping for cultural power.  One problem to which I’ve given some thought is how it is that many evangelical institutions have unspoken doctrinal lines […]

I’m teaching Galatians this fall and revisiting the relationship of Christianity to Judaism.  This letter of Paul has been read in Christian history to entail a rejection of Judaism.  I think this is a misreading, but that, of course, demands working through a number of texts. As it happens, I’ve also just re-read Mark Nanos’s […]

Here’s my paper on Paul’s political vision.  The Talking Points day conference at GRTS provided an opportunity for me to sketch this out, and I’m looking forward to developing it further at the Wheaton Theology Conference next Spring. For that presentation, I’ll probably develop sections on Romans 13 and Paul’s use of the Household Code […]

Paul speaks of his cruciform ministry as a performance of the death of Jesus in 2 Corinthians 4.  In a rhetorically beautiful passage, Paul dwells on the paradox of inhabiting a broken creation while being sustained by the God of all creation. Paul and his ministry partners “do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ […]

To everyone who has ears to hear, let them hear: When read carefully, none of the biblical apocalypses, from Ezekiel through Daniel to Mark 13 and John of Patmos, is about either pie in the sky or the Russians in Mesopotamia.  They are about how the crucified Jesus is a more adequate key to understanding […]

A few days ago, I wrote that Paul speaks of his original visit to Galatia as a public display of Christ’s crucifixion.  This may have been the beginning of Paul’s use of cruciform language to frame his apostolic ministry. He uses similar language for his ministry mode among the Corinthians. And so it was with […]

Provoked by some great class discussions, I’ve been thinking about the relationship between seminary training and practical ministry.  How does a person make the most of her/his seminary training and truly bless the church? A few weeks ago I wrote about the “seminoid” phenomenon.  I stole the term from a former pastor who playfully used […]

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the danger of presuming the righteousness of one’s cause.  History is filled with instances of nations and political parties claiming God’s endorsement of their side.  We could point to the “Christian” empires on opposite sides in WW I and the rhetoric (and hymnody!) generated by both North and […]