Our relationship to pleasure has been tormented since the serpent appeared in Eden, right after the repeated affirmation of the goodness of creation. How are we to look at trees that are good for food, a delight to the eyes, and desired to make one wise? Such trees lie in the midst of paradise, always…

As Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531) unpacks the tension between the present and future anthropologies set forth by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, some aspects of his theological anthropology emerge. Zwingli clearly differentiates between the body and the soul, recognizing that while the two elements are meant to be united, they will be separated between the time…

In his interpretation of Romans 1:19, Martin Bucer (1491-1551) argues that Paul’s theological anthropology teaches the notio Dei, the idea that God “possesses power over all things and is the highest good.” Distinct from the knowledge of God, which is made known through Christ, the notio Dei is a natural recognition of God imprinted on…

How much do you love explaining election to laypersons? While the doctrine is often a prickly point of misunderstanding and disagreement today, for the Reformers it was an important corrective to the works-based theology that had pervaded the church. After leaving the Dominican order, Martin Bucer (1491-1551) was a leader of reform in Strasbourg before…

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. —Paul to the Romans (7:15) “What is this negligence, this standing still? On your way to the mountain, running, and peel away the dead skin that keeps you from seeing God.” —Cato…

Do you remember when you first realized that the Apostles were real people who kept sinning despite walking with Christ? Or when you read about Paul taking Peter to task? Johannes Brenz (1499–1570) was a German Lutheran theologian and pastor, overseeing reform in Schwäbisch-Hall, Württemberg, and Tübingen. Like many of his contemporaries, Brenz finds encouragement…

Jean Daillé, the somewhat controversial French Huguenot minister, takes a hard-nosed look at Philippians 1:12-14. Where some may find inspiration in Paul’s courage and faithfulness in prison, Daillé sees a counterexample to those of little faith: Dear brethren, among the many things which offend people in the gospel of Jesus Christ, there is not one which…