Introduction A generation ago, when blacksmith shops were still common in villages, Robert Shank aptly observed that Colossians 1:21-23 is one of several Scripture passages over which one could affix the sign: “All kinds of fancy twistings and turnings done here.” ((Robert Shank, Life in the Son (2nd ed., 16th printing; Springfield, MO: Westcott, 1976),…
Living in this fallen world, we all face suffering and evil. One of the most common questions asked by non-Christians is how we, as Christians, explain the existence of evil and cope with it. Christians also are not immune to these questions and it is for this reason we have devoted an entire issue of…
Introduction While Paul has traditionally been understood as expecting the churches to engage actively in outward-focused evangelism, this view has been increasingly challenged. It must be admitted that there is a lack of explicit imperatives to evangelize in Paul’s letters. Nevertheless, a number of texts, however small, do seem to indicate that Paul both commended…
When people experience suffering, they deserve more than platitudes or pat answers from a 2013 version of Job’s friends. They need the comforting grace of God and the compassionate people of God. And they need a grounded theological perspective, a vision of God, life, and themselves, that can enable them to see (even if dimly)…
In Revelation, John writes as one in affliction (Rev 1:9), to churches in affliction (e.g., 2:10, 13), about the affliction that will take place before kingdom come (see esp. Rev 11–13). The contention of this essay is that John sees the affliction in which he is a “brother and fellow partaker” (1:9) as the outworking…
Introduction The Apostle Peter tells us, “that the testing (or proof) of your faith, more precious than gold which is perishable, though tested by fire, may be found to the praise and glory and honor in the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 1:7). God tests the faith of his saints. Such testing, when successful,…
Qohelet’s ((The Hebrew text of Eccl 1:1 identifies its author as Qohelet (“preacher,” “teacher,” etc.). Until the nineteenth century with the development of historical criticism, the majority of Christian scholars identified Solomon as Qohelet (see Craig Bartholomew, “Qoheleth in the Canon? Current Trends in the Interpretation of Ecclesiastes,” Themelios 24 [1999]: 4–7). Since that time…
SBJT: The book of Hebrews addresses a suffering church. What can we learn from Hebrews for us today on facing suffering as Christians? Barry Joslin: If we are being honest, suffering is not something most of us treasure, embrace, or go looking for. Most of us avoid it, and those of us with children often…
40 Questions about Christians and Biblical Law. By Thomas R. Schreiner. Edited by Benjamin L. Merkle. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2010, 256 pp., $17.99 paper. Most serious students of the Bible would jump at the chance to spend a day or two in personal conversation with a distinguished Bible scholar peppering him with questions about the…
To have a biblical worldview is to interpret every aspect of our lives—including our relationships with children—within the framework of God’s story. At the center of God’s story stands this singular act: In Jesus Christ, God personally intersected human history and redeemed humanity at a particular time in a particular place. Yet this central act…
In The History of St. Monica, Émile Bougaud (1823–1888) introduced his subject with the lofty claim that readers should sing such a biography rather than read it. ((Émile Bougaud, The History of St. Monica, trans. Anthony Farley (New York: D. & J. Sadlier, 1885), ix.)) Believing Monica had possessed “the most beautiful love that perhaps…
In the last decade, research has demonstrated that today’s Christian teens believe in the Word of God. For instance, a 2005 Gallop Youth Survey reported that 39% of Protestant and Catholic teens surveyed said that the Bible is the “actual word of God” and should be taken literally; 46% said that the Bible is the…
2012 marks three significant anniversaries in the history of Christian missions. Two hundred years ago, in 1812, Adoniram and Ann Judson set sail from the harbor in Salem, Massachusetts. They were bound for South Asia, and with their companions they were the first foreign missionaries to go out from the United States. One hundred years…
