Peter Leithart, Catholicity, and the Future of Evangelical Churches
At the end of the Preface to his great little book The Baptized Body, Peter Leithart makes an interesting macro-level statement concerning the contemporary Church. That such a consideration works its way into the pages of this book should come as no surprise, concerned as it is with ecclesiology. Though a book on baptism,…
Calvin on the Authority of Scripture
Early on in John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion (in its completed 1559 edition), he discusses the authority of Scripture. After describing humanity’s natural sense of divinity (sensus divinitatis), Calvin turns to the necessity of the Word of God for saving revelation due to humanity’s clouded judgment. In order to establish Scripture’s…
Work as Christian Service
Our current economic situation is one of ceaseless disorientation. Workers are separated not only from the means of production but also from the immediate fruits of production. Whereas past generations received tactile wages, such as a farmer and his crop, we are now at the point where even the once-tangible paycheck has been absorbed…
St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Paul on the Faith of Abraham
St. Paul’s use of Abraham as the paradigm for Christian faith forever stamped the narrative of this patriarch upon the Church’s imagination. No Christian conception of faithfulness to God can ultimately escape meditation upon “the father of all who believe,” as Paul calls him in Romans (Rom 4:11). Indeed, St. Paul’s discussion in Romans…
The Raising of Lazarus
Jesus’ trip to Bethany is a journey into the belly of death so that he might release death’s captive and bring him into life. This captive is Lazarus, who has fallen ill (John 11:3). Jesus knows that he will not recover from this illness. “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,” he says to his…
Theological Discourse and the Recovery of Sacred Form
St. Gregory of Nazianzus’ 27th Oration is startling to our 21st-century ears. “Discussion of theology is not for everyone, I tell you, not for everyone.”[1] The 4th-century bishop goes on: “Nor, I would add, is it for every occasion, or every audience; neither are all its aspects open to inquiry.”[2] Theologizing, Nazianzen suggests,…
A Physical/Spiritual Dichotomy in Reading the Two Testaments
The Church’s encounter with Marcion in the 2nd century taught her many things. When this innovative heretic-to-be suggested that Christianity existed in opposition to the Jewish Scriptures and the Jewish God, the Church quickly showed him the door. In this process, above all, she learned that her identity and the identity of the Gospel…
Reading the Bible Out of Context
It’s not uncommon to hear the claim that someone is reading the Bible “out of context”. Usually what is meant by this is that certain verses from Scripture have been extracted from their textual home in a particular book of the Bible and have been interpreted in isolation. Whether it be sports stars who…
On the Dangers of “Patristics”
I could not be more excited about Patristics. These early figures from the Church’s history consolidated a theological substructure shared by the three major strands of Christianity: Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox. Though foundational, it is impossible to “move past” these early fathers, as if we can take merely a couple glances at their work…
Reflections on Hebrews 2:10-18
The Incarnation of Jesus Christ stands at the center of Christian revelation, and therefore at the center of all reality. That the eternal God would partake of “flesh and blood” is an incomprehensible mystery (2:14). What is more, the Incarnation reveals not only God as human but also God as Triune. It is only…
Jackson Shepard 