God clothed in metaphor The scriptural God is a metaphorical God, not in the sense that he is not “literally” God, but in the sense that God frequently reveals himself to us in Scripture by means of metaphors. The scriptural God is a God who clothes himself in metaphors. Often these metaphors are taken from […]
Soul care today and in the Christian tradition
Soul care today Personality tests seem to be all the rage in the broader evangelical world at the moment. Whether it’s in the context of leadership training, church small groups, or campus ministries, there is a widespread hunger to understand what makes us distinctive as individuals and to understand how our distinctive traits and tendencies […]
Trinitarian personalism and Christian preaching
The Trinity and Christian preaching Recent days have prompted me to think about the relationship between trinitarian theology and Christian preaching. The first prompt came in June while participating in the International Presbyterian Church’s Catalyst Conference in London. Over the course of three days, I had the opportunity to listen to a lot of good […]
Every Sorrow Will Be Swallowed in Joy: Beholding the King in His Beauty
by Scott R. Swain Christian theology has a deep and abiding interest in the topic of happiness because it has a deep and abiding interest in “the happy God” (1 Timothy 1:11) and in the happiness of the people whose God is the Lord (Psalm 144:15). In our first installment in a Christian theology of happiness, […]
For Now We Rejoice in Part: Happiness Here and Not Yet
by Scott R. Swain God has promised his people supreme, unending, unshakeable happiness. Contrary to the claims of popular prosperity preachers, however, the supreme happiness God promises his people will not be realized in this life. Ours is a life characterized by sorrow in many ways. For now, we rejoice only in part. There are […]
That Your Joy May Be Full: A Theology of Happiness
by Scott R. Swain The Eudaimonia Machine is a work environment designed for what Cal Newport calls “deep work,” the state of undistracted, focused attention in which human beings are able to operate to the full extent of their creative capacities.1 This work environment “takes its name from the ancient Greek concept of eudaimonia (a state in […]
