Category: Theology
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Why I don’t Believe in the “Rapture”
Read more: Why I don’t Believe in the “Rapture”I should admit from the outset that my own convictions concerning end-times events is pretty unformed. That being said, I have become unconvinced that what has become known as “the Rapture” is actually found in the Bible, at least in the way that I was taught growing up. In other words, I don’t believe that…
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God Is Not Chewy
Read more: God Is Not ChewyThere are many things that God is not. And chewy is one of them. No, I’m not referring to this well-beloved Star Wars character. Although that’s true; God is definitely not Chewbacca. It may seem silly, but I whole-heartedly affirm that God is not chewy. By saying that God is not chewy I am doing…
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Obstinacy and Discourse: Meditations On Being a Charitable Dogmatist
Read more: Obstinacy and Discourse: Meditations On Being a Charitable DogmatistAristotle wrote, “it is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” When I think about this quote I imagine a soldier in war, walking through enemy territory naively smelling the flowers. Ideas are dangerous things and to entertain and constantly be around precarious things will ultimately…
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Sex and Eschatology Revisited
Read more: Sex and Eschatology RevisitedIn August of 2011 I wrote a post entitled, “Sex and Eschatology.” In that post I essentially tried to articulate that sex is a biblical type. It functions typologically as a pointer to the eschatological joy of believers. If you are interested in how I articulated this check out the post here. The reason for…
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How René Descartes Saved My Life
Read more: How René Descartes Saved My LifePart of the postmodern (or post-postmodern if you’re so inclined) predicament is the amount of time we have to be neurotic and even narcissistic. I firmly believe that if I were not living in a society where I have ample time to let my thoughts wander, if I were so focused on the tasks necessary…
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Scholarship and Certainty
Read more: Scholarship and Certainty“At this point the reader who desires to follow us is expressly begged to discard, as far as he possibly can, any conceptions he may have formed of Pauline doctrine. Among all the innumerable Christians of the various churches, who believe that they share Paul’s views, there is to-day no single one who could be…
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Moving Redemption ahead of the Equation
Read more: Moving Redemption ahead of the Equation= Equality = If your facebook newsfeed was anything like mine, pink and red was the dominant color scheme of the beginning of the week. As if Valentine’s Day was having a month late resurgence, signs for equality have flooded the social media and blogospheres in the supreme courts pending ruling on the constitutionality of…
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Objections to the Trinity
Read more: Objections to the TrinityHere in Sydney I’m currently co-teaching a seminary class on the doctrine of the Trinity. We’ve spent the first few weeks of the course reading and discussing some sermons by Gregory of Nazianzus. The next section will focus on parts of Augustine’s De Trinitate. In the final third of the semester we’ll work through §59 of Karl…
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Thinking Carefully . . .
Read more: Thinking Carefully . . .For those of you who dabble in the circles of theology and modern celebrity pastor culture, you quickly find out how it’s “circles” work. First, after learning about all the major teachers, pastor’s or theologians who are heroes in your circles, you start learning about which leaders and figures are loved and claimed by “other”…
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History in the Making: the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury
Read more: History in the Making: the 105th Archbishop of CanterburyA significant shift took place last week in the Church of England. The office of Archbishop of Canterbury was conferred upon Justin Welby, former Bishop of Durham. In my short time living in Durham (I moved here in late September), it has been interesting to see this process unfold. Although Rowan Williams announced his retirement…