27
Dec
2013
Homosexuality and the Phil Robertson Flap
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Over at the Reformation 21 blog, Todd Pruitt has some insightful thoughts about homosexuality and the Phil Robertson controversy: As I have read the many commentaries offered by various evangelicals on the Phil Robertson flap I cannot help but wonder if some of the discussion confuses categories. Some, while in sympathy with Robertson’s view that... Read More
25
Dec
2013
The Virgin Birth and the Immaculate Conception
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During Christmas season each year, we read the accounts of Jesus’ birth in the Gospels (Matt 1:18–25; Luke 1:26–38), and we are reminded once more of our Savior’s Virgin Birth. What exactly do we mean by the Virgin Birth of Christ? Maybe that’s obvious, but let’s start with a definition. By the Virgin Birth we... Read More
23
Dec
2013
"Peace, Peace" When There Is No Peace
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One of the more troubling mis-translations in the history of English Bible translation (at least in terms of its popular acceptance and impact) is the King James rendering of Luke 2:14 as “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Despite the fact that nearly every modern translation has... Read More
20
Dec
2013
Is the Promised Land a Type of New Creation?
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Hebrews says “yes.” But, I’m not yet sure this means Christian Jews (Israel) won’t have their own special zip code in the new creation. That’s a possible inference from Hebrews, but it’s not clearly a necessary one. Quite a lot, of course, depends on what is meant by “type” and I’m going to happily pass... Read More
18
Dec
2013
Why I Won’t Tell My Son That Santa Is Real
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My wife and I are looking forward to enjoying our first Christmas as parents, even if our son is currently more interested in putting wrapping paper in his mouth than in any other part of Christmas. It’s still fun to discuss what traditions we want to establish as a family. One common tradition that we... Read More
16
Dec
2013
Scientific Evidence for a Young Earth
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I teach a seminary class entitled Biblical Creationism. One of the textbooks is Refuting Evolution (2nd ed., 2008) by Jonathan Sarfati of Creation Ministries International. This book is the largest-selling creation book of all time. Because of the importance of this book, CMI has uploaded it in a series of entries that follows the chapter divisions... Read More
14
Dec
2013
What Really Happened in the Incarnation? Some Thoughts from the Fourth Century
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Did Christ exist before he was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary? And if he did, in what sense did he exist before his incarnation? In the early fourth century, a church leader named Arius came into conflict with Alexander (bishop in Alexandria, Egypt) over questions related to the incarnation of the Son... Read More
11
Dec
2013
A Little Christmas Music?
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The hymn “Joy to the World,” published by Isaac Watts in 1719, is one of my favorites. But it’s not my favorite Christmas song—because it is not a Christmas song at all. The hymn is instead based on Psalm 98 and conceived by Watts as a proleptic anticipation of the premillennial Second Coming of Christ.... Read More
7
Dec
2013
Kingdom through Covenant & Rom 9–11: A Problem and a Proposal
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One of the lingering questions I have about Wellum & Gentry’s (W&G) remarkable book Kingdom through Covenant has to do with their view of Rom 9–11. They argue that Rom 9–11 promises the future salvation of a lot of ethnic Jews (see 501; also their response to Darrell Bock here). On this point, among many... Read More
4
Dec
2013
My Personal Take on Rap and Hip-Hop as Worship Forms
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I’m finding myself somewhere between pity and embarrassment as I watch otherwise respectable middle-aged white men tripping over one another to be first in line insisting that they’re not racist because they’re OK with Reformed Rap and Holy Hip-Hop as valid worship forms. Not everyone is riding the wave (see esp. Darryl Hart’s comments here),... Read More