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Ecclesiology: the Rule of Elders
How do Scriptures describe the role of elders? There are many aspects. One on which I’ll focus in this post relates to their role as overseers and rulers. This seems to be a challenging part of the Scriptures for those living in Western democracies, in which rule of society tends to be (at least in…
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St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Index
This is an index of the works of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, one of the most significant medieval theologians (A.D. 1090 – 1153). Of course, this is just an index of the works I know of, and is – in that sense – a work in progress. If you become aware of other works that…
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Some Interesting Papacy-Related Quotations
John Bugay has lifted two interesting quotations from a recent book entitled, “The Petrine Ministry in the Early Patristic Tradition” (Eerdmans, Nov. 2010). The first quotation includes “the monepiscopacy replaced presbyterial governance in Rome only in the mid-or late second century” from a Lutheran scholar. The second quotation includes “The East never shared the Petrine…
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Ahab vs. Jeroboam | 1st Command vs. 2nd Commandment
Not all sins are equally heinous in God’s eyes. The sin of Jeroboam was to set up a rival worship of God according to his own imagination, with his own priests, and images, namely golden calves. He set up one of those in Dan and the other in Bethel. 1 Kings 12:28 Whereupon the king…
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Ahab vs. Jeroboam | 1st Command vs. 2nd Commandment
Not all sins are equally heinous in God’s eyes. The sin of Jeroboam was to set up a rival worship of God according to his own imagination, with his own priests, and images, namely golden calves. He set up one of those in Dan and the other in Bethel. 1 Kings 12:28 Whereupon the king…
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If not "can" then "could"? Response to LFW Objection
I had written: If God knows that X will happen, it is certain to happen, and thus cannot be otherwise. In the comment box, “Dan” (profile not available) provided a proposed response from a non-Calvinist advocate of “Libertarian” free will (I assume that this is a hypothetical objection, not Dan’s own objection): God’s infallibly knowing…
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If not "can" then "could"? Response to LFW Objection
I had written: If God knows that X will happen, it is certain to happen, and thus cannot be otherwise. In the comment box, “Dan” (profile not available) provided a proposed response from a non-Calvinist advocate of “Libertarian” free will (I assume that this is a hypothetical objection, not Dan’s own objection): God’s infallibly knowing…
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Free Will, Advance Knowledge, and God
At Triablogue, Paul has posted an item on free will and God’s advance knowledge including an answer to the popular non-Calvinist argument: “Just because God knows in advance that X will happen doesn’t mean God causes or controls that X to happen.” (my paraphrase) As Paul points out, that argument misses the point. While I…
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The Koran, Dr. James White, and the Idea of Repenting
Recently, a Youtube video came to my attention, in which my friend Dr. James White is accused of lying about the Koran. Specifically, Dr. White had made essentially the following argument: 1) Our Muslim friend alleges that the Bible is wrong, because the Bible says that God repented. 2) But, the Koran (at 2:37) teaches…
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Grace in Cyril's Commentary on the Book of Exodus (First Discourse)
The Orthodox Research Institute has published an English translation of the first discourse of Cyril of Alexandria’s Commentary on the Book of Exodus. It’s not a massive volume (about 50 pages of English text). Nevertheless, it serves to illustrate some aspects of Cyril’s teachings on topics related to the doctrines of grace. Most of the…