The Story of God’s Love

According to the New Testament, a narrative summary of “the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39):

Circumcision and the Gentile Mission

Larry Hurtado comments on Paula Fredriksen’s interesting insights on why Paul was completely opposed to Gentile circumcision:

Yes Kanye: “Jesus is Lord”

The release of Kanye West’s gospel album “Jesus is King” last year was one of the biggest events in music and pop culture worldwide. The release of any new music from Kanye garners a lot of attention anyway being one of the biggest and most influential contemporary musicians today. What made the release of this album such a phenomenon is that it was in some sense the culmination of his very public transformation from Yeezus to a servant of King Jesus.

The Christian world has warmly received this once improbable addition to Christian music. In a way, he is fulfilling his mission of being here “to convert atheists to believers” by making millions of people around the world, including non-Christians say, “Jesus is King.” Many have reviewed the album and commented on what their favourite songs are. My favourite song is the final track “Jesus is Lord.” It is probably the least talked about track and I have heard no one call it their favourite. I will explain why I love it and why it is the most important song on the album.

David the Patriarch

There is a curious little phrase in Peter’s Pentecost sermon in Acts 2:14-40.

Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.  – Acts 2:29

What makes the phrase “the patriarch David” so strange is King David is ostensibly not a Jewish patriarch.

Wright on Exile

In the video below, renowned New Testament scholar Tom Wright discusses the significance of the Jewish exile on New Testament thought and theology.

Rethinking Glory

Glory is one of those common words in popular Christian vocabulary which we assume the meaning without doing any deep study of how it is actually used in the Bible. Theologian and Bible scholar Haley Goranson Jacob in her new book Conformed to the Image of His Son: Reconsidering Paul’s Theology of Glory in Romans (IVP, 2018) tackles this very issue. She does this by carefully re-examining Romans 8:28-30, which is one of the most important passages about glory in Christian thought, and brings fresh insights on this well-known and beloved Pauline passage.

Raising Ascension Day

When it comes to the idea of a liturgical calendar I am not against it but I do have some reservations about it. However, if you are going to observe one in some form or another and one of those days is to commemorate the ascension, it is just remarkable how criminally underrated Ascension Day actually is. In the Pentecostal/Charismatic world to which I belong it is even worse. Even though it is one of the few liturgical days that is recognized on paper, in practice it is completely ignored. Even if you do not confess the creeds, Jesus’ ascension to heaven is clearly a fundamental belief that is either mentioned, implied or alluded to through out the New Testament. This is why it is so surprising Ascension Day is not as important as it should be.