Fred Sanders is usually writing about the Trinity. The burden of his 2010 volume The Deep Things of God was to show how the doctrine of the Trinity “inherently belongs to the gospel.” Years earlier he wrote his dissertation on “Rahner’s Rule” and the immanent Trinity. Then there is his 2016 volume in Zondervan’s New Studies…

James Hoffmeier is stepping away from his lecture podium and beginning retirement—at least for the summer. This fall he will be joining a group of six other scholars in residence with the Creation Project for the 2018–19 academic year. The working title of the project is “Why We Believe in Creation and Evolution: A Discussion…

As Stephen was stoned, he looked to heaven and saw Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father, where he ascended to rule in glory. Reflecting on this passage from Acts 7, Martin Luther (1483-1546), the German Reformer, provides a number of pastoral insights. He acknowledges that while we might not see the ruling…

Seven scholars from across the United States, representing five institutions and three disciplines, have been awarded the 2018-2019 Henry Resident Fellowship. We are pleased to announce the recipients for the upcoming academic year: James Hoffmeier, Fred Sanders, Dru Johnson, Ryan Peterson, Mary VandenBerg, Ralph Stearley, and Joshua Farris. These scholars will be undertaking research on…

In his Little Book of Christian Questions and Responses, French pastor and professor Theodore Beza (1519-1605), Calvin’s successor and the leader of the church in Geneva, provides a primer on his Reformed theology in an accessible catechetical format. Considering here the reasons for the ascension as discussed in Colossians 3, Beza argues Christ returned to…

In many ways, the Protestant view of Catholic theology, especially at a popular level, has not advanced beyond caricatures which emerged in the polemically-filled debates of the sixteenth century. Many nuances of early modern Catholic doctrine have been lost to those whose forefathers broke with Rome, while the breadth of Catholic thought early modern era…

Throughout the history of the church, numerous questions have been raised over the statement in the Apostles’ Creed affirming the descent of Christ into hell, and some churches choose to omit these words in their liturgical observances. During the Reformation era, however, the vast majority of Christians continued to affirm this traditional teaching of the…

Biologists have long recognized that many organized structures in living organisms—the elegant form and protective covering of the coiled nautilus; the interdependent parts of the vertebrate eye; the interlocking bones, muscles, and feathers of a bird wing—“give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose.” Before Darwin, biologists attributed the beauty, integrated complexity, and…

John Polkinghorne’s favorite contemporary theologian is Jürgen Moltmann. Even so, he once lamented the “spectacle of a distinguished theologian [Moltmann] writing over three hundred pages on God in creation with only an occasional and cursory reference to scientific insight.” It is as well that he later wrote of Moltmann and science in different and positive…

That Christians can celebrate and rejoice in Christ’s crucifixion and death, as affirmed in the Apostles’ Creed, is a stumbling block to many. Why and how is it that the Lord can appear powerless, becoming the object of scorn and losing his life at the hands of his enemies? In his paraphrase of John 12:23,…

One of my first encounters with this question took place in college physics class. My lab group was assembling an experiment on circular motion and figuring out what to measure using the messy pile of equipment on the lab bench. We got it set up, made our measurements of radius, velocity, etc., then did some…

“In proclaiming the resurrection of Christ, the apostles proclaimed also the resurrection of mankind in Christ; and in proclaiming the resurrection of mankind, they proclaimed the renewal of all creation with him.” Doctrines of creation are of tremendous importance to Oliver O’Donovan’s moral theology. Creation is not conceived merely as an abstract set of theological…