For Martin Luther (1483-1546), as for most exegetes of the sixteenth century, the significance of the Psalms extends far beyond the historical events that occasioned their writing. While modern exegetes quibble over the extent of their prophetic meaning, in his preface to the Psalms, Luther shows no such hesitation. The Psalter, he states, is in…

Eberhard Jüngel’s most important and enduring contribution to the contemporary revival of interest in the doctrine of creation comes in the form of a demurral. Jüngel never produced a programmatic or even comprehensive statement on creation; the closest thing a late essay on “the creative power of the word” in the course of which he…

John Webster devoted a good portion of the first fifteen years of his career wrestling with the theology of Eberhard Jüngel. Research for his Cambridge dissertation, “Distinguishing between God and Man: Aspects of the Theology of Eberhard Jüngel” (1982), anticipated the magisterial Eberhard Jüngel: An Introduction to His Theology, which not only served as the first…

Whenever John Webster published one of his essays, it seemed you could hear from certain sectors of the theological academy the sound of theologians dropping everything. They wanted—we wanted—to make sure our hands were free so we could take up and read. For about two decades these essays arrived as something less authoritative and less…

In his commentary on John 3:14, Philipp Melanchthon (1497–1560) explains the implications of Christ’s analogy between the Son of God and the bronze serpent. As the serpent symbolizing sin was raised up, so that sinners could gaze on it and be healed, so Christ took our sin onto himself, so that we could gaze on him…

In Africa’s new charismatic Christianity (what I previously referred to as contemporary Pentecostalism) prosperity in both its spiritual and material senses remains a major theme. This Christianity shares the supernatural worldview associated with traditional religion in which evil powers are held responsible for the problems that people face in life, including the failure to prosper materially. This much…

Last month in July 21-23 the Henry Center sponsored a conference at the beautiful campus of Tokyo Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. The conference was led by Dr. Harold Netland (Naomi A. Fausch Chair of Missions at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) and Dr. Takanori Kobayashi (NT professor and Dean of Faculty at Tokyo Christian University)….