Theology

A Prophet Is Not a Predictor of the Future

The prophets claim more, and the people credited them with more than just astute human discernment.

The Transcript of Our Desires

If one’s internet searches illuminate our hidden desires, then the Bible serves (in the words of Catherine Dunlap Carter) as a kind of “incomparable record of human desire.”

The Heart of the Bible

The cross is the axis upon which the biblical story turns. Who is God? God is the one who was crucified between two criminals on Good Friday.

Beyond the Creation-Evolution Debate

Overlaying the maps of these two intellectual worlds—the Bible’s and evolutionary science’s—will show us the various routes they each forge to conceptualize the world we know today.

A Way to Organize and Understand God’s Gifts

When we do theology, our task is not to add to what God has revealed in the Scriptures, but to order it. Theology is a way to organize and better know and understand what God has gifted us in special revelation.

The Composition of the New Testament Writings

In light of the unique role that written texts have played in Christianity for two millennia, it will be helpful to briefly consider what may be determined regarding the manner in which the biblical authors composed and distributed their works.

The Literary Beauty of the Scriptures

Even a basic understanding of such literary devices as inclusios, chiasms and key word repetition can go a long way in enhancing a reader’s pleasure factor.

When Issues in the Church Divide Us

On this side of heaven, theological disagreement is part of life. The apostles who wrote the New Testament settled such disputes in the first century. Today, we have a clear word from God preserved in Scripture but no magisterium to settle our disagreements over how to interpret it.

Reconciling Atonement Theories

We all have limited perspectives. We live in particular cultures and historical periods. No one studies the Bible in a vacuum. Our cultural, historical, and personal contexts influence how we interpret the Bible. In this sense, all theology is contextualized.

Contextual Sensitivity in Reading Scripture

As the world becomes “smaller,” the incorporation of new ideas and new approaches to reading and interpreting Scripture becomes important as we encounter people with perspectives, experiences, and cultures different from our own.

Introduction to the Biblical Metanarrative

The story that the Bible tells, therefore, is the story that we are all part of whether we know it or not and whether we like it or not. We have joined the story in progress, along the way, so to speak.