An important biblical theological idea emerges out of Paul's use of Deuteronomy 21:23 in Galatians 3:13. In the middle of the most polemical book in the New Testament, Paul made the astounding declaration: "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree')." The immediate context shows that the curse to which Paul is referring is the curse of the law (Gal. 3:10-11). Returning to Deuteronomy 21, out of which Paul takes the command for capital punishment and applies it to Christ, we discover the theological riches of Gal. 3:13. In Deuteronomy 21:23 we read: "If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God." (Deut. 21:22-23) continue

Ralph C. Wood, Chesterton: The Nightmare Goodness of God (Baylor University Press, 2011)$34.95, hardcover, 325 pagesIn Book eight, Chapter twelve of his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle asserts a seemingly common-sense truth that has been progressively forgotten, ignored, or repressed over the course... continue

Peter J. Morden, Communion with Christ and his people: The Spirituality of C. H. Spurgeon, Centre for Baptist History and Heritage Studies (Regent's Park College, Oxford), 2010, 318pp., paperback, £25Peter Morden, tutor in Church History and Spirituality at Spurgeon's College, has given... continue

Vern Sheridan Poythress, Logic: A God-Centered Approach to the Foundation of Western Thought (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), 730pp., $45.00I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Crossway for their gracious provision of a review copy of this book.The term "polymath"... continue

After a couple of eventful months surrounding the Vatican, the time has come to shift into a more routine mood. Pope Francis has attracted a lot of attention from the media and has sent various messages of change and renewal. After the initial surprise, the various Vatican departments are coming to terms with a less pompous papacy, and the Pope himself is beginning to shape his own views on a number of open issues that are on the Vatican agenda. continue

Rob Bell, What We Talk About When We Talk About God (New York: HarperOne, 2013), 240 pp., $16.00"Detheologizing" ChristianityFor those who have read Rob Bell's other books (such as Love Wins and Velvet Elvis), the tone, disposition, and content of... continue

Last month we began to consider the mode of "persuasion" as a central aspect of our defense of Christianity. We ended our previous article with the affirmation that the Word of God must be our foundation in apologetics. That's where we stand when we engage in a defense of the faith. We don't pretend to stand on the same platform as those to whom we speak. Whatever platform the unbeliever attempts to mount is nothing more than a mist; one may think that it feels, at times, like it is something substantial, but, in reality, its supposed strength is only an illusion, nothing more than a midsummer's madness. continue

Richard A. Muller, Calvin and the Reformed Tradition: On the Work of Christ and the Order of Salvation (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), 288pp., paperback, $39.99Richard Muller's latest book, Calvin and the Reformed Tradition, is the product of many decades... continue

This month, I thought I would use this column to indulge in a little thought experiment. What, I wonder, if the conservative evangelical church world came to be dominated by a symbiotic network of high profile and charismatic leaders (think more Weber than Wimber), media organisations, and big conferences? What if leadership, doctrine, and policy were no longer rooted in the primacy of biblical polity and the local church? What if, in other words, all of this become a function of an Evangelical Industrial Complex? continue

A Truly Divisive PondA Review of Thomas Albert Howard, God and the Atlantic: America, Europe, and the Religious Divide (Oxford University Press, 2013) PB, $29.95One of the most striking differences between the USA, my adopted residence, and the UK, my... continue

"The beginning of wisdom is the definition of words" (Socrates). If you define a word in a certain way you make claims about reality. Our postmodern culture has stirred us to come to terms with the fact that words do not have stable meanings but exist in an flux that drives them in one way or another depending on the interests of their users. This is the current situation of the word "Evangelical". continue

Robert Letham, A Christian's Pocket Guide to Baptism: The Water that Unites. Fearn: Christian Focus, 2012. Paper. $7.99.Baptism is one of the more regularly practiced rites in the church, but is likely one of the least understood. Though churches use... continue

The rise of gay rights, including, now, the all but inevitable legal support for same-sex marriage at home and abroad, has the effect of a tidal wave: better get out of the way, or be drowned in obscurity. Sure, there will be ups and downs, advances and setbacks. But things are moving fast. Two Presidents have changed their minds about the subject. President Obama, in a very public announcement last spring, declared that his views had "evolved," followed by his second inaugural address, where he actually called for gay marriages. And former President Bill Clinton has recently disavowed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which he had signed into law seventeen years previously continue

What I would like for us to begin to think about in this post is a Reformed theology of persuasion in apologetics. Possibly one of the more frustrating aspects of a Covenantal apologetic for some may be that, with any answer to any objection, there always remain questions that could have come up, issues that might have been discussed, objections that were not addressed. continue

The Devil and Pierre Gernet: Storiesby David Bentley HartEerdmans, 2012$25.00, paper, 176 pages My Dinner with D. B. Hart Though much has been written, and continues to be written, on the dramatic monologues of Robert Browning, far too few critics have celebrated, or even noticed,... continue

The need for church development, so acute in China, exists wherever the gospel is bearing fruit. Indeed, the proper goal of the church's mission is not just to announce the good news to those who have not heard or to call unbelievers to faith and repentance; the church's mission has always included establishing a well-ordered church in every land for the welfare of Godís people and perpetuation of the ministry. continue

I remember the first time I read Augustine. I was a final year undergraduate at Cambridge on the Classical tripos but taking the course, Christian Life and Thought to A.D. 451 from outside my faculty. Those were the days: university courses could actually use the term 'A.D.' to refer to exactly the same start date as 'C.E.' but without risk of being accused of oppressing anybody and thus standing on a line of obvious continuity with every crime against humanity of the last 500 years. A lost age of almost unimaginable Eloi-style innocence, untouched by the Morlockean mindset of political correctness. continue

The Three Tasks of Pope Francis The election of Cardinal Bergoglio to the papacy responds to three basic concerns that the conclave felt it necessary to address. These concerns helped to sketch the profile of the new Pope and Cardinal Bergoglio fitted it. continue

To the surprise of some of my fellow elders in my Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) presbytery, I voted against the proposed language change to the Book of Church Order 58-5 concerning intinction.(1) It is not because I believe or practice intinction. In fact, in my estimation, the exegetical and historical arguments against intinction deliver a knockout blow continue

With the news of C. Everett Koop's death last week, we are given the occasion to return to a question raised only a few months ago by a blog post on CNN.com which provoked reactions far and wide. The question concerns exactly when and how evangelicals came to embrace the pro-life (or as it was known then, the right to life) position. continue