1. In order to follow John’s testimony regarding the person and work of Jesus Christ, we must attend to the ways he describes Jesus’ oneness with the Father along with the ways John describes the natural kinship relation that grounds their oneness. These two ways of speaking about Jesus correspond to the two ways John […]
Why does John call Jesus “the Word” (Jn 1:1)?
Students of John’s Gospel have long pondered the question: Why does John call Jesus “the Word” in his prologue? Given the prologue’s resonance with discussions of Wisdom in the Old Testament (e.g., Job 28; Proverbs 8) and within ancient Judaism (e.g., Wisdom 7, which bears multiple similarities to John 1:1-18), the obvious title for the […]
To what end retrieval? Five theses
Peter Leithart’s article today at First Things prompted (provoked?) me to jot down some thoughts regarding the ends of retrieval. Here are five theses. To what end retrieval? 1. Retrieval rests on a twofold judgment: (1) that all is not well in contemporary theology and biblical studies and (2) that the help we need might […]
Ten things I’m thankful for in 2021
“Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Ps 90:1-2). The stability of God’s eternal and unchanging being is one of the architectonic themes of the divine kingship psalms found […]
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 […]
Prayer for studies
It’s the first day of the fall semester and, as is my custom, I plan to conclude my first lecture with a prayer penned by Andreas Hyperius (translated by Eric Hutchinson): Thou, most wise heavenly Father, art the fount and origin of all knowledge and wisdom: thou pourest into the minds of all men knowledge […]
