Theology | TLG Christian News

Why Do Unborn Babies Matter? Just Because They Are

01/03/2017 0 Comment

A few of us were having a conversation yesterday and something a member of the class I lead said reminded me of a quote I had just read and to which all pro-lifers would probably say a hardy “amen.”

The great apologist G. K. Chesterton once wrote, “All men matter. You matter. I matter. It’s the hardest thing in theology to believe.” Rob Renfroe took Chesterton’s observation and concluded, “And that God—the God who is big enough to speak all of that [just the part of the universe we know about] ..

Theology, Church History, and Guarding the Good Deposit

28/02/2017 0 Comment

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Photo courtesy: Neuestock
When I began working with the Christian Standard Bible, my first priority was to dig into the history of the translation. I wanted to know who was involved, how it was developed, how it was marketed over the years, and how many Bibles were out in the wild. In order to understand fully the good and the bad about the project ahead of me, I had to take a thorough inventory of where it came from. I could’ve done my job without this investigation—but n..

When the Book of Revelation Takes a Swing at a Roman Emperor

27/02/2017 0 Comment

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Photo courtesy: Craig Koester via the Classical Numismatic Group.
While compiling notes for my dissertation and forthcoming book on the Book of Revelation, I came across this note on Revelation 1:16 in Craig Koester’s Revelation commentary:
The section climaxes by noting that [Jesus] holds seven stars in his right hand (Rev 1:16). This cosmic imagery conveys sovereignty. An analogy appears on a coin from Domitian’s reign that depicts the emperor’s deceased son as young Jup..

Like Scales and Jazz: How to Preach Christ from Psalms

20/02/2017 0 Comment

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

The Christian church knows this excruciating cry from both the Gospels and the Psalms (Matt 27:46; Mark 15:34; Ps. 22:1). But how did Jesus come to inhabit the lament of his royal ancestor, breathing David’s agonized prayer as his own?

After his resurrection, Christ taught his disciples that the Psalms—indeed, the entire Old Testament—had testified about him (Luke 24:27, 44). Christ was teaching that all of Scripture is fulfilled in him—that he walks t..

How Not to Help a Sufferer

18/02/2017 0 Comment

Of all the Bible’s many colorful characters, none are quite so exasperating as Job’s friends. Herod might chop off your head, and Judas might stab you in the back, but Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar will hurt you with Bible verses.

Job’s actual losses take two brief chapters to recount (Job 1–2), but the tortuous dialogue that follows drones on for 35 chapters (Job 3–37). I wonder which agonized Job more: his initial suffering or the extended indictment that followed?

The problem with Job’s comf..

10 Reasons You Should Read Fleming Rutledge’s ‘The Crucifixion’

18/02/2017 0 Comment

Fleming Rutledge’s The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ is an extraordinary book. It’s theologically deep and beautifully written, pastoral and scholarly, ecumenical and evangelical. Like its author, it’s Episcopal but not as you know it. It’s endorsed by people you rarely find endorsing the same book: Stephen Westerholm and David Bentley Hart, Kate Sonderegger and Stanley Hauerwas, Larry Hurtado and Robert Jenson. In some ways, it’s the successor to John Stott’s The Cross of..

Why the 5 Solas Still Matter Today

11/02/2017 0 Comment

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The young, newly ordained Catholic priest stood in front of the church, ready to officiate his first mass. These priests were expected to have clean hearts before officiating—no sin unconfessed. No heart of stone unturned.
But as Martin Luther began to recite the introductory portion of the mass, with the bread and wine on the altar in front of him, he almost passed out. “I was utterly stupefied and terror-stricken. … Who am I, that I should lift up mine eyes or raise my h..

What the Gospel Means for the Transgender Debate

10/02/2017 0 Comment

“This is who I really am.”

In those six simple words lies the heart of one of the most important and most controversial topics in our culture right now: gender identity. Such a sentence carries heavy meaning, especially for those who have suffered confusion and dissonance when it comes to gender and sexuality.

Our cultural conversations about transgenderism, gender dysphoria, and sexual identity matter not ultimately because of social or political implications, but because of what these issue..

How to Defend the Gospel from Its Enemies—and Friends

10/02/2017 0 Comment

If we believe that the truth of the gospel matters—and we who identify with TGC do—then how should we speak about, tweet about, and argue against false teachers who lead people away from the truth? And how do we talk about true teachers who mistakenly counteract their own theology?

Defending the gospel against both its enemies and, at times, its friends is not easy. On the one hand, we desire not to be cowards; on the other hand, we desire not to be provocateurs.

How can we find our way? Here ..

How Art Moved Me Beyond the Cliché

09/02/2017 0 Comment

Have you ever felt stuck between reading Scripture as either too clichéd or too academic? Our Bibles seem clichéd when we’re reading familiar texts like John 3:16, Jeremiah 29:11, and Philippians 4:13, as the verses we memorized in Awana or see on billboards begin to wear thin.

Approaching Scripture in an overly academic manner runs to the opposite extreme, where we obsess over meaning but reach the same net effect: dullness of heart. We see this among pastors who treat the Bible like a job man..