This passage began with a call to consider the work of God. As we contemplate the way that he works in the world, he teaches us the right way to live. We learn to praise God for prosperity and trust God through adversity. We learn to live a God-fearing life that is free from wickedness and self-righteousness. continue

Yet you also know that all affliction is sent by a wise, fatherly God. Perhaps you even know--as the whole book of Job and the Puritans never tire of teaching us--that the important thing is not the amount of affliction we receive, but how we respond to that affliction. continue

It is one thing to say that we believe in the sovereignty of God, but another thing to live that out in a world that often seems meaningless. No sooner has the Preacher told us to consider the works of God than he struggles with some of the implications of God's sovereignty continue

One of the first people that I hope to meet in heaven is the Scottish theologian Thomas Boston, who was the subject of my doctoral research in church history. I admire the man for the depth of his theology. continue

The myth of the secular Shakespeare continues to cast a long shadow over most people's perception of Shakespeare's plays.  Until I inherited the Shakespeare course in my department halfway through my career, I assumed that despite certain Christian patterns and... continue

There are two kinds of evil: moral and natural. Moral evil is sin, such as murder, rape, abuse, terrorism, or genocide. Natural evil is what causes suffering and unpleasantness; it is the result of moral evil. For example, every human dies, animals suffer, natural disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes wreak havoc, vehicles crash, diseases kill millions, and horrific freak accidents occur. Like everyone else, I have tasted this evil more than once, including when my parents separated when I was four and later when my youngest brother died of Neuroblastoma cancer when he was just six years old. It is ugly and painful. continue

James D.G. Dunn once referred to the epistle of James as "the most Jewish, the most undistinctively Christian document in the New Testament." [1] We all know that Martin Luther had serious concerns about the content of the epistle of James referring to it as "an epistle of straw" and noting that it contained "nothing of the nature of the gospel." [2] The epistle of James has been saddled with accusations of being "sub-Christian" and bereft of Jesus. On top of all this, the epistle has to be continually defended against charges that it conflicts with the Pauline doctrine of justification by faith alone. continue

In this review we will pose three central questions to Wright's current understanding of the doctrine of justification. Historically, what does Wright have to say about the way in which the Protestant Reformers explained the apostle Paul's teaching on justification? continue

A review of Finding God in the Shack is therefore, in one sense, a review of a review which tends to a rather cumbersome exercise in circumlocution: I am discussing Olson's discussion of Young's discussion! For that, let me beg your indulgence. continue

One question that I have now been asked more times than I care to remember is "How do you cope with all the nastiness that's come your way on the internet over the last few years?" The answer is pretty simple: it generally doesn't come my way because I generally don't read it. continue

As a young officer in the U.S. Army, I was once charged with two felony counts for an offense of which I was innocent (the charge was hit-and-run driving because during field operations my tank ran over a jeep that parked behind us in the dark; neither I nor my tank crew were even aware we had backed over it!). continue

This year has witnessed a publishing event of real interest to many Christians: the publication of N.T. Wright's Justification: God's Plan and Paul's Vision. Wright is widely considered the most provocative writer on justification today and the arrival of this book has deservedly garnered much attention. My purpose in this article is not to review Wright's book as a whole or even to assess his overall teaching on justification. Rather, I intend to respond to that part of his teaching that proposes a future justification by works for believers in Jesus Christ. continue

To help prepare a scrapbook for my grandfather's 90th birthday, my mother was given a small treasure trove of old letters from around the 1940's.  Most of them were written by my Great Grandpa Ernest and sent to my grandfather,... continue

Bucer wanted to provide a Reformed pastoral theology for the Church, a biblical guide to help ministers shepherd God's people, not according to human wisdom or churchly superstition, but according to the voice of God in Scripture. continue

There are several defining moments in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ that deserve the deepest and most serious consideration. His baptism at the Jordan, His temptation in the wilderness, His transfiguration, His agony in Gethsemane and His sufferings on the cross are the most significant points in Jesus' earthly ministry. The baptism and temptation are singular in their importance because of the representative character which they portray. In order to fully understand any subsequent act in the life of Christ the central importance of these two inaugural events must first be discerned. continue

That's when it all started to go wrong. I do not know if you have ever tried to `inclusivise,' `unmarginalise' or `deoppresionise' on the fly, so to speak, but it is not that easy, as the gentlemen was about to demonstrate in spades. continue

A couple of months ago, I drew attention to the phenomenon of Facebook that (to me, anyway) weird internet sensation where everybody and anybody can connect to (or, to use the jargon, `friend') anybody else in the world of virtual... continue

In other words, if Christians are going to better understand the revelation of God in the NT they must also grow in their understanding of the OT, for it is all God's word. continue

The reader may be pardoned for thinking that all that could be said about justification has been said. But the reader would be wrong. John Valero Fesko, pastor of Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Woodstock, GA and adjunct professor of theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Atlanta, has penned an encyclopedic treatment of the doctrine that is well worth the time and effort to digest. continue

Being called to the small, obscure parish of Anwoth did not give Rutherford an opportunity to take it easy and get by with only minimal effort, which has no doubt been a temptation to many ministers in similar conditions. continue