Introduction At the moment of Jesus’ death on the cross, after crying out with an earth-rending voice and yielding his spirit (Matt 27:50), Matthew recounts several cataclysmic events for his readers. He includes five signs ((I use “sign” instead of “symbol” since it more helpfully connotes a referent that points the reader both backward to…
What seems to have happened is that Western theology has allowed itself to be dominated by a legalistic view of sin and a forensic model of atonement which leaves little room for resurrection. When the atonement is thought of chiefly in terms of merit and the law, the cross becomes central, but the resurrection drops…
Introduction My oldest boy used to think that if he could not see the sun shining in the sky during the day, then it was not really out and shining. For him, the sun had to be visible, uncloaked by clouds. He eventually realized that the presence of the sun was evident in the light…
Introduction Long ago Rudolf Bultmann argued that Jesus’ activity as “Revealer of God” is the eschatological event, “the judgment of the world.” ((Rudolf Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament (vol. II; trans. Kendrick Grobel; New York: Scribners, 1955), 35. He states that resurrection and judgment take “place in the response of men to the word…
In orthodox Christology, the priesthood of Christ has been a regular feature of Jesus’ messianic portrait. In Reformed circles, the munus triplex goes back to before Calvin.
Karl Barth’s famous aversion to accepting biblical miracles as historically accessible included the resurrection of Jesus. This antipathy displayed itself in 1962 at George Washington University during a question-answer dialogue with 200 specially invited religious leaders. After Carl Henry identified himself as the editor of Christianity Today, he asked Barth: “The question, Dr. Barth, concerns…
SBJT: When one thinks of crucial and important chapters on the resurrection in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 15 immediately comes to mind. Briefly describe the significant contribution this chapter makes to our thinking about the theme of the resurrection. Stephen J. Wellum: It is certainly the case that 1 Corinthians 15 is of singular…
Galatians. Concordia Commentary. By A. Andrew Das. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2014, lxix, 738 pp., $54.99 hardback. A. Andrew Das serves as the Donald W. and Betty J. Buik Chair of Religious Studies at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, IL. His fresh and substantial contribution to the Concordia Commentary series represents some of the…
When Samuel Vance walked into church in December 1996, he had his life planned out. He was 18 years old, visiting a church during his winter break from college — a hard-working student who had mapped the rest of his life during his first semester. He grew up in a working-class Christian home and professed…
Three months after his wife’s death, Michael Pohlman received a call from the man who performed the memorial service, encouraging Pohlman to return to Southern Seminary and join the faculty as assistant professor of Christian preaching. Robert Vogel, the Carl E. Bates Professor of Christian Preaching, mentored Pohlman during his time in seminary, and the two…
Who is Jesus? Greg Gilbert Review by RuthAnne Irvin Many people today, including those in church pews each Sunday, struggle to answer a simple question: Who is Jesus? In his new book, Greg Gilbert explores the historical and biblical accounts of Jesus not only as a person but as the Son of God. Gilbert opens Who Is Jesus? with…
Commentary on Hebrews Thomas R. Schreiner In the first commentary released in the Biblical Theology for Christian Proclamation series, Thomas R. Schreiner’s Commentary on Hebrews explores the theology of the New Testament epistle in relation to the biblical canon. “In considering the theological message of the letter, it is important to locate the fundamental purpose of the…
EDITOR’S NOTE: In what follows, Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation and professor of biblical theology, discusses his new commentary with Towers editor S. Craig Sanders. CS: What do you hope will set the Biblical Theology for Christian Proclamation series apart from other commentaries? TS: Most commentaries are very good at giving you…
During the height of racial tension in mid-20th century America, one unique experiment near Americus, Georgia, offered the nation a remarkable picture of Christian community in radical contrast to the culture of segregation. The name of this experiment was Koinonia, a 400-acre farm organized in 1942 by Clarence Jordan alongside his wife and like-minded friends…
A Commentary on Exodus Duane A. Garrett Before the 21st century, major Hollywood movies like The Ten Commandments (1954) and The Prince of Egypt (1998) celebrated the redemptive power of the Exodus narrative. Yet in the past decade, films, TV documentaries, and scholarly writings have questioned the historicity of the Exodus account. A new commentary from Duane A. Garrett, John…
Letters to a Birmingham Jail: A Response to the Words and Dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Bryan Loritts, ed. Review by Andrew J.W. Smith Taking up Martin Luther King Jr.’s seminal “Letter from Birmingham Jail” during contemporary events like the Ferguson shooting and the Eric Garner case, one is immediately struck by how…
