Evangelical Christians have long held firmly to the reality and importance of authorial intention: the intention of the author is key to establishing the meaning of the text. Accordingly, when it comes to finding the meaning of a biblical passage, knowledge of the original context becomes vital. Thus, concentrated study of the relevant “material” context,…

It has been a long time since I have so thoroughly enjoyed a theology book. Abraham’s book is written with verve and vitality. The prose simply sparkles. The mix of standard academic terminology with “bog Irish” and homespun Texan is delightful. The book is by turns both witty and worshipful, both convicting and fun. It…

Keith Yandell is gone. After a long battle with multiple health problems, on the morning of April 28, 2020 he drew his last breath. He is now “absent from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8). Keith was the Julius R. Weinberg Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where…

Every time I wash my hands these days, I recite either our Lord’s Prayer or the Apostle’s Creed. This ensures that I make it past twenty seconds, of course, but it also reminds me of what is most important. As I do so, I keep thinking about the striking contrasts between the transience and fragility…

In reading Wright’s response to my essay, it occurred to me that perhaps I did not state my intentions clearly enough. So let me try to be as clear as I can be: I did not set out to write a full review of the book. By no means did I attempt to overturn the…

Shawn D. Wright’s new book (40 Questions About Calvinism) seeks to provide a fair and irenic account of the doctrine of salvation that is increasingly common in evangelical theology and that is popularly known as “Reformed” or “Calvinist” theology. Despite the proliferation of recent books and articles on topics associated with this, there remains a…

I am very grateful to our panelists for their insightful and stimulating contributions. Communicating complex and sophisticated notions from fields as varied as psychology, neuroscience, genetics, and physics in ways that a theologian can understand is no easy task! Our panelists have done excellent work, and I am indebted to them. Their work shows us…

The belief that human persons are free and morally responsible is a common intuition. And it is more than this: it is a basic conviction of Christian theology. But what does it mean to say that we are “free?” Philosophers and theologians have debated this question for centuries, and while the arguments continue, there is…

Professor Fergusson’s The Providence of God: A Polyphonic Approach is an impressive contribution to the search for an adequate Christian doctrine of divine providence. The merits of the book are many, and there is much to appreciate. Fergusson’s discussion is grounded in consideration of Scripture (including both the Hebrew Bible/Christian Old Testament and the New…

I am grateful to Dennis Venema and Scot McKnight for their work in Adam and the Genome, and I am also thankful for the engagement provided by the scholars who have contributed to this symposium. This conversation is exactly the sort of forthright, well-informed, and charitable discussion that the church needs, and it is just…