Biblical interpretation

Jack is not going to seminary. He has a good job, he is settled in his local church, and he wants to minister in his home state, preferably his hometown. Staying put permits him to help in his local church and to build connections he’ll need in the future. Jack will get his book learning from...

What is the relationship between the creation/cultural mandate in Genesis and God’s intended role for his redeemed people in the new covenant? In Genesis 1, God creates humanity in his image and gives them a task to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion” (1:...

Over the past 10 years, I’ve been examined by 4 different presbyteries. These have been profoundly edifying experiences that have deepened my love for the brethren and biblical polity. While each presbytery’s exam had its own flavor, a unique blend mixed from past controversies within and...

My Favorite Books of 2024 Daily Doctrine by Kevin DeYoung This is my pick for the Book of the Year. DeYoung has taken a rather unique and refreshing approach to a volume of systematic theology. It is composed as a year of daily readings (5 per week). And in terms of categories he does not skimp...

‘After the hymn, the minister will ascend the stairs into the pulpit for the Scripture reading, pastoral prayer, and sermon.’ What role does the physical pulpit have in a local church? For most of my life, I attended churches where the pulpit was moved around, wheeled in, carried out, or was a...

‘And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “ Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”’ (Mark 15:34). What exactly was happening on the cross when Jesus spoke these words? Was the Trinity torn asunder in this moment, Father turning has face...

I am encouraged by the amount of interest my article on hyper-cessationism has received. It has reinforced my suspicion that the Reformed world is hungry for warmer expressions of orthodoxy, and that our spark has been waiting for us all along in the original material of the 16 th and 17 th...

As a capital “R” Reformed person, I would call myself a cessationist. This simply means that I believe God has “ceased” giving any new doctrine and/or new ethics. You could also describe it as the belief that there is no more canon to be given. It also means God will not give any more infallible...

After Jesus called the twelve disciples they travelled together throughout Galilee while he taught the crowds and healed many suffering from a variety of diseases. Word of his miraculous ministry drew onlookers along with others seeking his healing power. He made paralytics walk. He loosed those...

Stanley Kubrick made the movie Dr. Strangelove as a joke in 1964. His dark comedy took aim at the fragile egos of politicians in the U.S. and U.S.S.R. that threatened to push our world over the precipice of a nuclear winter during the Cold War. Though Soviet hostilities have dissipated, the joke...