The end of Christ’s saving and sanctifying work is nuptial. For this reason, the end of biblical interpretation should be nuptial as well. It is one thing to affirm that biblical interpretation and preaching should be Christ-centered. This affirmation follows from Jesus’ own teaching about the relationship between Scripture and himself (e.g., John 5:39; Luke […]
Retrieving the “royal metaphor”: reflections on Psalm 93
Theology is discourse concerning God: God in his being, attributes, persons, and works; God and all things in relation to God, from whom and through whom and to whom are all things (Rom 11:36). The principal subject matter of Christian theology has a proper name, “Yhwh,” which is the name of the Father and of […]
A model of retrieval for biblical exegesis
Holy Scripture is the cognitive principle of theology, the supreme source from which the treasures of divine wisdom are drawn and the supreme norm by which our grasp of those treasures is measured. To borrow a metaphor from Matthew 13:44, Holy Scripture is the “field” in which the “treasures” that theology seeks to acquire are […]
“Idiocy” in trinitarian theology
We sometimes miss significant aspects of biblical teaching on the Trinity because we are unfamiliar with philosophical terms and concepts common in the ancient world. One such example is the Greek term ἴδιος and the philosophical concept of a “natural property” to which the term sometimes refers. The semantic range of ἴδιος is fairly broad. […]
“Bearing with one another in love”: Robert Rollock on Ephesians 4:3
We owe a debt of gratitude to Reformation Heritage Books and General Editors, R. Scott Clark and Casey Carmichael, for the latest publication in their “Classic Reformed Theology” series, Robert Rollock’s Commentary on Ephesians. In reviewing Rollock’s comments on Ephesians 4:1-3 for teaching I am to do next week, I was struck by the profundity […]
Attention in biblical interpretation
What is true of Christian agency in general is true of Christian interpretive agency in particular: faith works through love (Gal 5:6). “Love asks; love seeks; love knocks; love reveals; love, finally, remains in what has been revealed.”[1] Love’s quest for understanding is fulfilled by giving attention to Holy Scripture: “Hear, O Israel” (Deut 6:4). […]
