Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
There is currently a controversy regarding Christian philosopher William Lane Craig concerning his view of Jesus as the Son of God. Craig is not denying the deity of Jesus or the sonship of Jesus. It is much more nuanced than that. In the following clip, Craig denies the eternal begetting of the Son. Notice the … Read More “What is the Eternal Generation of the Son?” »
For many Christians, it is plain sense that a human is body, spirit, and soul. In fact, this is sometimes used as an imperfect analogy for the Trinity. At the very least, most Christians believe that we have a physical aspect and a non-material spiritual aspect. This substance dualism is common even beyond Christianity. Substance … Read More “What is Christian Physicalism?” »
One of the goals that I have in terms of theology is to read outside of my tradition. I do not want to just have previous opinions strengthened. Plus, I don’t always agree with my own tradition. It is in this spirit that I read Passion, Power, and Promise by Robert C. Fennell. Links in … Read More “Passion, Power, and Promise: Introducing the Holy Spirit – Review” »
I do enjoy studying theology. However, I sometimes have my doubts when theologians confidently state what God is like. They make it sound so easy. Too easy. They might say that it is relatively simple because we have the Bible and all we have to do is summarize the Bible. What the Bible says about … Read More “How Much Do We Know About God?” »
You encounter a person and there is a label attached to them. It may be progressive or evangelical or charismatic or reformed. Does that label tell you everything you need to know about their beliefs? Labels are useful but limited in explanatory power. The truth is that most of the labels used by Christians today … Read More “Theology, Labels, and Making Assumptions” »
There have been times in my Christian journey that I wanted to know all the answers. Not just to be able to share them with others in apologetic conversations but for my own comfort. I saw the value of a tight theological system that had an explanation for everything. The most confusing Bible passage, the … Read More “We Don’t Need to Have All the Answers” »
I recently asked a question on Twitter about whether a person needs a PhD to be a theologian. You can see the results below. Must a person hold a PhD to be considered a theologian? — Stephen Bedard 🇨🇦 (@SJBedard) November 29, 2021 If you check out the comments, you will see that much of … Read More “What is a Theologian?” »
Christians disagree with one another. This happens all of the time. I’m not talking about disagreeing about fashion or music or television shows. I’m thinking more about disagreements about Christian faith and practice. These disagreements have been around since the beginning. Check out this message I gave about the Jerusalem Council from Acts 15. I … Read More “5 Questions to Ask When You Disagree With Another Christian” »
I hear from many pastors about how to become a disability-friendly church. Usually they are thinking in terms of the facilities or programs. Basically: What is the stuff that needs to be done? I appreciate this eagerness but there is actually some theological groundwork that needs to be done before a church can truly be … Read More “3 Theological Steps to Becoming a Disability-Friendly Church” »
Perhaps you feel the draw to theology. You want to be a theologian but you don’t have a PhD and don’t anticipate getting one. Is your desire beyond your grasp? I can anticipate some people saying that every Christian is a theologian or should be. There may be some truth in that but I’m not … Read More “Do You Need a PhD to be a Theologian?” »
I did it. I finally did it. I read the entire Church Dogmatics by Karl Barth. What’s the big deal? This is no simple systematic theology. It is the size of an encyclopedia set. And I read it as a part of my devotions, mostly reading two pages at a time. This is not a … Read More “Thoughts on Reading Barth’s Church Dogmatics” »
When a couple begins to have children, at least in the back of their mind, they are hoping for the “perfect” family. But what happens when a child is born with or an adult acquires a disability? Is there now imperfection? For people of faith, perhaps there is a need for redefining perfect. Redefining Perfect … Read More “Redefining Perfect – Review” »
I have gotten to know Don McIntosh over the last couple of years and even wrote the foreword to his previous book. I was quite happy when he offered to send me his newest book, Transcending Vision. Transcending Proof was more of a book on apologetics, while Transcending Vision is more generally on theology. What … Read More “Transcending Vision – Review” »
My theology has changed in many areas, from my understanding of creation to my view of the end times. But I would say that the biggest change has been my theology of conversion. I grew up in a mainline church that understood conversion as being the moment that one is baptized as a baby. In … Read More “The Biggest Change in My Theology” »
Two of biggest interests that I have are theology and disability. Thankfully these two topics do intersect. When I wanted to talk about this, I knew exactly who I wanted to chat with. Keith Dow is the Manager of Organizational and Spiritual Life at Christian Horizons. In addition to working on the front lines of … Read More “At the Intersection of Theology and Disability” »
As a pastor and Bible teacher, I see one of the most important needs as being greater knowledge of basic Christian theology. We have a small minority who devour theology books and a great majority who have never thought deeply about theology. Thankfully, Gregg Allison has written 50 Core Truths of the Christian Faith: A … Read More “50 Core Truths of the Christian Faith – Review” »
Two of the areas that I’m most interested in are theology and disabilities. When these two come together, I’m in my sweet spot. Some time ago I responded to a call for papers for the Summer Institute on Theology and Disability. This is an event that I have wanted to attend for a long time. I … Read More “Good News: Theology and Disability Paper” »
One aspect of working through ideas about disabilities is to develop a theology of disability. The Bible has some important things to say about disabilities. But how do they fit together and what is the main message? One of the best resources I have come across is Disability and the Gospel by Michael S. Beates. … Read More “Disability and the Gospel – Review” »
I was not raised as a Baptist, but I feel very much at home within a Baptist church. However, when people find out that I’m a Baptist, I sometime encounter some stereotypical judgments about what that means. Just because you find out someone is a Baptist, does not mean that you know what they believe. … Read More “4 Myths About Baptists” »
When we speak of eschatology, we must remember that there are a couple of aspects to this doctrine. It both refers to what will happen to the world when Jesus returns and what happens to individuals when we die. My eschatology has developed in both areas. Growing up Anglican, I had no beliefs about the … Read More “My Eschatology Has Changed (But It’s Not the End of the World)” »
I recently had the privilege of baptizing my daughter. For context, I’m a Baptist pastor and so we baptize believers as opposed to infants. While Emma is our first to be baptized, she is the fourth of our five children. Our two oldest children have autism and are on the severe end of the spectrum. … Read More “Autism, Theology and Baptism” »
What would be the reaction if you mentioned at a church function that you wanted to discuss theology? How many people would roll their eyes? I have often lamented the lack of interest in theology among Christians. Recent reflections on this have made me think of the role of pastors. What are pastors doing to … Read More “A Plea for More Theological Pastors” »
One of the concerns that I have had recently is how easily people throw around the heresy label. It seems that if a Christian overemphasizes or underemphasizes something more than we do, they are a heretic. Some Christians are very uncomfortable with differences of opinions and varieties of theological interpretation. If a group is different … Read More “4 Questions to Ask When Talking About Heresy” »
How should Christians see death? Is death something to be feared? Should Christians look forward to death? In reflecting on these things, I really appreciate what Karl Barth has to say on this subject. The New Testament does not fear death. But he never hopes for it. He hopes for the One who has delivered … Read More “Karl Barth on Christians and Death” »
The New Testament presents a message of hope. But what is the content of that hope? I came across this summary of the New Testament hope by Karl Barth that I thought was very helpful. This, then, is the New Testament hope. To understand it, we must fix our eyes firmly on three points: 1. … Read More “Karl Barth on the New Testament Hope” »
Fred G. Zaspel, The Theology of B. B. Warfield: A Systematic Summary (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010); 624 pp. Hdbk. Slowly but surely historians and theologians are starting to provide a proper assessment of the legacy of Benjamin B. Warfield. In general, the story of Princeton Theological Seminary has been told by writers like David Calhoun and … Read More “Theology of B.B. Warfield” »
“The question arises, however, whether God creates people with disabilities. On the one hand—yes—insofar as people with impairments of one kind or another are persons created in the image of God. But on the other hand, as something tragic—no. There is nothing inherently wrong with disability or with the people who have disabilities. Disability is … Read More “Does God Create People With Disabilities?” »
A devotion based on Jude 3. Like James, Jude was a half-brother of Jesus. His letter may be short but is filled with both theological and pastoral truth. One of Jude’s main concerns is the theological integrity of the church. People had infiltrated the church with false doctrine and this in turn had begun to … Read More “Devotions: Jude” »
Would you like to be active as an apologist? Great! So what do you need to know to be an apologist? The common sense answer would be that an apologist needs to know about apologetics. However, apologetics is more of an attitude than a body of knowledge. If you look at the topics being taught … Read More “Skills for the Apologist” »
Recently, Jim West posted on his blog something about Barth on ‘Apologetics.’ The fact that West puts apologetics in quotes gives us an idea of what he (not just Barth) thinks about apologetics. In the post he quotes Karl Barth: Apologetics is something of which I am deeply suspicious, something alien to me in all its … Read More “Jim West, Karl Barth and Apologetics” »
If you do not know what the Johannine Comma is, I will explain it to you (hint: it is not John’s punctuation). The best way to understand it is to compare 1 John in the KJV and a modern translation. “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the … Read More “The Johannine Comma and the Trinity” »
People often point out that the trinity is not in the Bible. What they really mean by this is that the word ‘trinity’ is not in the Bible. The basic concept of the trinity is in the New Testament though. Here are three passages where the idea of the trinity is beginning to emerge. “Go … Read More “The Trinity in the New Testament” »
I must admit that I am shocked at Calvinist attacks on Arminians. I am sure that there are Arminians that attack Calvinists, but I rarely see it. Maybe Arminians are not as zealous for their theology or maybe they are content that Calvinists choose that position on their own. I have seen the debate get … Read More “Calvinism and Arminianism” »
I must give a warning here, I have not yet read Love Wins, nor is this a response specifically to that book. I must also say that I like Rob Bell. I have watched a number of his Nooma videos and it is very obvious that he has a deep love for God and love … Read More “Reflections on Rob Bell” »
There seems to be quite a bit of labeling of people as heretics in recent years. It is easy to discount people with a label, but have people really thought through what this means? The word heretic or heresy does not technically mean something bad or even false. It literally means sect, opinion or sentiment. … Read More “What is Heresy?” »
