Floating with the Elephant—Toward a Fuller Doctrine and Practice of Water...
For as the word of God, by the mysteries which it contains, exercises the understanding of the wise, so usually by what presents itself on the outside, it nurses the simple-minded. It presents in open...
View ArticleDealing with the Elephants—Toward a Fuller Doctrine and Practice of Water...
“The elephant in the room” is an English idiom that refers to a problem obvious to everybody . . . but avoided by most because addressing it would cause discomfort or embarrassment. In a marriage...
View ArticleRiding the Elephant—Toward a Fuller Doctrine and Practice of Water Baptism...
I’ve never ridden an elephant. At least not that I remember. But I’ve seen people ride elephants. And I’ve even considered riding an elephant. To be honest, I’d be a little scared. In case you didn’t...
View ArticleEarly Registration Open for The Table Conference April 19-20, 2013
On April 19–20, 2013, I will have the privilege of serving as one of six presenters when Dallas Seminary launches The Table conference series. The theme of the conference will be “Presenting God to...
View ArticleThe Early Church: Christianity or Christianities?
DId Christianity begin as a tangle of squabbling followers putting their own spins on Jesus’s life and teachings? Did many Christianities with different “Jesuses” strive for dominance? Did one form of...
View ArticleReader’s Guide for Margaret Deanesly’s ‘A History of the Medieval Church...
Over the course of her career Margaret Deanesly bequeathed upon the twentieth century church numerous publications that grant non-experts access to the often confusing world of medieval Christian...
View ArticleWhy Seminary? (Why Not?)
As a seminary professor, I’m often asked why anybody would want or need graduate-level studies devoted to biblical, theological, historical, and practical training in preparation for Christian ministry...
View ArticleThree Trails to Traditionalism: What Evangelicals Are Running From and...
Back in the 1990s, when I was a student at a conservative evangelical Bible College, one of my fellow students shocked many in the student body (and alarmed several professors) when he announced that...
View ArticleThe (Kitschy) Cross and the (Creepy) Crypt
The heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ is His death and resurrection (1 Cor 15:3–4). This good news about Jesus wasn’t a mythological medley of spiritual metaphors. It wasn’t a story invented to puff...
View ArticleThe “Rock” Stuck in a Hard Place
Few passages of Scripture haunt me more than Peter’s inevitable denial in Luke 22:60–62. I say “inevitable” because there was nothing Peter could have done to not deny the Lord that night. The dramatic...
View ArticlePondering the Unthinkable: Judas, “Spy Wednesday,” and Me
Judas Iscariot had accompanied Jesus from the beginning of His ministry—a witness to countless miracles and awesome power. A close friend . . . a trusted companion . . . and, for just a few month’s...
View ArticleDialogue of Peter and Boso on the Night of Christ’s Arrest (Part 1 of 2)
[Author's note: The following fictional "dialogue" between the apostle Peter and his interlocutor, Boso, concerns events leading up to and including the betrayal and arrest of Jesus on Thursday of...
View ArticleDialogue of Peter and Boso on the Night of Christ’s Arrest (Part 2 of 2)
[Author's note: The following fictional "dialogue" between the apostle Peter and his interlocutor, Boso, concerns events leading up to and including the betrayal and arrest of Jesus on Thursday of...
View ArticleThe Early Church: Christianity or Christianities?
DId Christianity begin as a tangle of squabbling followers putting their own spins on Jesus’s life and teachings? Did many Christianities with different “Jesuses” strive for dominance? Did one form of...
View ArticleReader’s Guide for Margaret Deanesly’s ‘A History of the Medieval Church...
Over the course of her career Margaret Deanesly bequeathed upon the twentieth century church numerous publications that grant non-experts access to the often confusing world of medieval Christian...
View ArticleWhy Seminary? (Why Not?)
As a seminary professor, I’m often asked why anybody would want or need graduate-level studies devoted to biblical, theological, historical, and practical training in preparation for Christian ministry...
View ArticleThree Trails to Traditionalism: What Evangelicals Are Running From and...
Back in the 1990s, when I was a student at a conservative evangelical Bible College, one of my fellow students shocked many in the student body (and alarmed several professors) when he announced that...
View ArticleThe (Kitschy) Cross and the (Creepy) Crypt
The heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ is His death and resurrection (1 Cor 15:3–4). This good news about Jesus wasn’t a mythological medley of spiritual metaphors. It wasn’t a story invented to puff...
View ArticleThe “Rock” Stuck in a Hard Place
Few passages of Scripture haunt me more than Peter’s inevitable denial in Luke 22:60–62. I say “inevitable” because there was nothing Peter could have done to not deny the Lord that night. The dramatic...
View ArticlePondering the Unthinkable: Judas, “Spy Wednesday,” and Me
Judas Iscariot had accompanied Jesus from the beginning of His ministry—a witness to countless miracles and awesome power. A close friend . . . a trusted companion . . . and, for just a few month’s...
View Article
