Scripture

A Healthy Church: The Word of God

Jeffrey Stivason
Oct 10, 2017
The book of Revelation can be thrilling. Not because of the charts and timelines often concocted to parse out the unknowable date of Christ’s return. No, it’s marvelous because it is filled with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But let me tell you what else it has going for it besides the fact that it...

Standing Firm on the Slippery Slope

Richard D. Phillips
Aug 29, 2017
A few weeks ago, the editorial team at Ref21 asked me if I would be willing to write something regarding Fred Harrell (pastor of City Church, San Francisco) and his recent postings in which he attacked the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement. In doing so, I made a connection between Harrell...

The New Perspective on Paul: Who is Jesus?

Jeffrey Stivason
Aug 25, 2017
Who is Jesus? Any Christian might easily answer this question by reaching for her Bible and turning to the gospels. But advocates of the New Perspective on Paul (NPP) would be quick to caution against such a naïve response. “Oh,” they might say, “you can know something about Jesus from reading the...

The New Perspective on Paul: Salvation

Rachel Miller
Aug 23, 2017
One of the aspects of the New Perspective of Paul is a focus on the corporate, as opposed the individual, aspects of justification and salvation. In the Christian church today, there is a move by some to “correct” an overemphasis on the individual believer. The desire is to focus on the corporate...

Warfield & Inspiration: Testimonium Spiritus Sancti

Stephen Unthank
Aug 12, 2017
One of the more contentious issues in the history bibliology has been over the relationship between the human and divine in Scripture, an issue to which B.B. Warfield devoted so much of his attention. Jeff Stivason has served us well in recapturing Warfield’s emphasis on concursus, an idea perhaps...

Warfield & Inspiration: The Authority of the Bible

Rachel Miller
Aug 9, 2017
The Bible is the Word of God in such a way that when the Bible speaks, God speaks. – B.B. Warfield But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from...

Warfield & Inspiration: The Sufficiency of Scripture

Amy Mantravadi
Aug 7, 2017
B.B. Warfield is well known for his writings on the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture. The rise in higher criticism and schools of thought that cast doubt upon the origins of God’s Word required Warfield to spend much of his time defending biblical authority. However, when it came to the...

Double Black Diamonds: Navigating the Slopes

Jay Harvey
Aug 5, 2017
In his helpful blog post "The Slippery Slope and the Jesus Box" Rev. Rick Phillips explains that there is indeed a slippery slope about which we must be concerned in theology. I say indeed, because many will be aware that the slippery slope is typically considered a logical fallacy: one assumes...

Warfield & Inspiration: Revelation, Inspiration & Scripture

David Smith
Aug 5, 2017
The history of Christian theology could be told from the perspective of how the church’s theological giants have been misunderstood and misrepresented. One theological giant who fits in such a storyline is the Old Princeton scholar B. B. Warfield (1851-1921). Perhaps the central point at which he...

The Slippery Slope and the Jesus Box

Richard D. Phillips
Aug 4, 2017
Over twenty years ago, while in seminary, I was present during a hallway conversation with a professor who then seemed to be moving toward liberal theology. A student asked how this man's higher critical methods would enable him to remain a Christian. The professor gave quite the revealing answer...