Archive for August 2023
Medieval Nominalism and Postmodern Despair
Italian medievalist Umberto Eco’s 1980 novel, The Name of the Rose, is many things at once. It is a postmodern novel, a detective novel, a novel of metaphysical ideas, and an historical novel set in Italy in November 1327. In an essay about his own novel, (included as a sort of postscript), Eco says that its…
Read MorePodcast Throwback: Why did R.C. Sproul think Classical Theism was his legacy?
From his books to the chalkboard, R.C. Sproul communicated the deep things of God in an accessible way. When asked what the core of his legacy was all about he exclaimed, “Classical Theism!” But Sproul’s commitment to classical theism was foundational to his defense of the faith as well, which explains why Sproul was so…
Read MoreInferno, Canto 17
Dante’s Divine Comedy is a literary masterpiece that continues to captivate readers with its vivid depictions of the afterlife and its profound theological insights. As a work of Christian literature, it offers a unique vision of God’s justice and mercy as it invites readers to contemplate the ultimate destination of human souls. Through complex allegories…
Read MoreProving God from Perfection
Can God be proven? Yes. Even the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC) provided a famous argument for God as the Unmoved Mover, the unchanging first cause of all change. Denying the provability of God is popular today, even for Christians. Faith and reason have been divorced, and we Christians sometimes swallow that pill without realizing…
Read MoreChristian Faith and Metaphysical Reason
Biblical scholar N. T. Wright observes with regard to Romans 1:19–20, “Paul clearly does believe that when humans look at creation they are aware, at some level, of the power and divinity of the creator,” so that there is a “divine selfrevelation in creation.”75 Yet, can it really be said that pagans arrived at some…
Read MoreIsrael, Family History, and Evangelical Snobbery
Evangelicals have a strange relationship with Israel. Now, far be it for me to get into geopolitics surrounding the modern nation state or dispensational eschatology. When it comes to the former, I am decidedly undecided, and when it comes to the latter, I am decidedly non-dispensational. The strange relationship evangelicals have with Israel I mean…
Read MoreWhy Mary’s Assumption Is Indefensible
In this video, Credo Fellow Gavin Ortlund expresses the Protestant concern about the bodily assumption of Mary and responds to 6 common defenses of this dogma, including some from the recent video of Trent Horn. Truth Unites exists to promote gospel assurance through theological depth.
Read MorePodcast Throwback: What is Partitive Exegesis?
How can we hold our systematic theology in one hand and take seriously the exegetical task in the other? How do we interpret scripture in light of Christ’s two natures? Throughout the Great Tradition, biblical scholars and theologians alike have turned to partitive exegesis as an essential tool in the interpretive task. In light of…
Read MoreC. S. Lewis’s Argument from Reason
I am intellectually indebted to a brilliant Christian thinker from the twentieth century who taught me how to defend the Christian faith. He taught me how to prove the supernaturalism of Christianity by proving—you might say—the impossibility of the contrary. That is to say, he taught me not only that supernaturalism is a credible belief,…
Read MoreInferno, Canto 16
Dante’s Divine Comedy is a literary masterpiece that continues to captivate readers with its vivid depictions of the afterlife and its profound theological insights. As a work of Christian literature, it offers a unique vision of God’s justice and mercy as it invites readers to contemplate the ultimate destination of human souls. Through complex allegories…
Read MoreGoodness in the Local Church
One of the most underrated attributes of God is his goodness. Like all of God’s attributes, it informs a variety of other facets of life and theology, from creation (Gen. 1:31, “behold, it was very good”) to disability and election (Jer. 18:1, “he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter…
Read MorePrayer and Gossip?
As a pastor I always did my best to encourage my congregation to pray. Prayer is, I believe, one of the lesser-attended subjective means of grace. I suspect that when times get tough people pray, but I often wonder that when times are good do they pray as much? Therefore, I took every opportunity to…
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