As pandemic restrictions continue, members of the Society of Christian Philosophers were asked a few months ago to provide suggestions on ways to bring their content to a wider audience. In addition to their first-rate journal Faith & Philosophy, I suggested they consider adding a YouTube channel to reach a broader audience. Now this resource is available so …Read More
I’m repeatedly reminded and deeply saddened by how little some people understand about forgiveness. Despite the need to grasp, receive, and extend this vital virtue into our lives, the human capacity to withhold it and the seemingly vigorous need to maintain a grudge is beyond tenacious. At almost every turnRead More
Terrance Tiessen, has an especially insightful post on the penal substitution theory of Christ’s atonement (PSA). Although the theory is full of complexities and not without controversy noted by many theologians, the value that Tiessen brings shows a warm pastoral heart and very special and important insights into the nature of forgiveness,Read More
Does God forget my sins when he forgives my sins? Aren’t we supposed to “forgive and forget?” After all, the Bible clearly states “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25). And, Jeremiah exclaims “For IRead More
Miraslov Volf says it was the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) that launched his “theology of embrace” for his book, Exclusion & Embrace (see previous post). Volf writes that in “some sense” the whole book is his attempt to “draw out” the social significance of this profound story between aRead More
I’ve been taking my time reading through Miraslov Volf‘s Exclusion & Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation. As observer of the war between the Serbs and Croats fought between 1991-1995, this is Volf’s theological reflection on the ethnic and cultural conflicts that plague our world and heRead More
Once again N. T. Wright has done an eloquent job articulating a very difficult teaching that so many for so long have wrestled with intellectually, existentially, or both. This short book goes a long way toward building a framework for understanding practical ways to live in the brokenness of creationRead More
Before leaving the great state of Colorado, for a number of years I met each Friday morning with two dear friends and fellow brothers in Christ. Whether praying together, studying Scripture together, or just enjoying the company of each other, I looked forward to our meetings. At one point weRead More
I hold it true, whate’er befall; I feel it when I sorrow most; ‘Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. In Memoriam A.H.H. Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) The first few instances where the notion of remembrance is found in Scripture it is usedRead More
“While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God” (Ezra 10:1) many in Israel took notice. One man’s lamentation moves an entire nation to repentance. A few observations from Ezra’s prayer follows God’s inspired text: 6“I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God,Read More
Before leaving the great state of Colorado, for years I met each Friday morning with two dear friends and fellow brothers in Christ. Whether praying together, studying Scripture together, or just enjoying the company of each other, I looked forward to our meetings. At one point we agreed to inviteRead More