What Karl Barth Really Said

There’s a certain arrogance in a title like that (reminds me of the arrogance revealed in a similar title on St. Paul). The title implies that Barth interpreters of the past have got him all wrong or mostly wrong, and I’m here to tell you what Barth really said and what you should think about [...]

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There’s Humor in Theology 7

This charming little anecdote comes from Stephen Hawking (not a theologian): 
A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the Earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the centre of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At [...]

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Covenants and Biblical Theology (Part 2)

Discussion Resumed
In my last post I sought to make the argument that God made a covenant with creation, which included man as made in the image of God. As soon as Scripture presents man made in the image of God, the reader would make the connection that man was appointed to rule the creation, which [...]

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There’s Humor in Theology 6

On the maiden posting of “There’s Humor in Theology” I offered this disclaimer:
Martin Luther is a man of his time and as such cannot be expected to follow twenty-first-century taboos. Moreover, I have no desire to censor him. In other words, there may be some cursing and some bathroom humor.
The following quote is the kind of thing I had [...]

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Has the Church Misread Karl Barth?

[see also the forward post on "What Karl Barth Really Said"]
I hesitated to write this post since we’ve already said so much about Barth and given him so much press. John and I were supposed to move on to other issues besides those of the doctrine of Scripture (and we have). But, Barth is who I’ve been [...]

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There’s Humor In Theology 5

Martin Luther’s theology sometimes defies explanation. Luther can be an enigmatic and mysterious fellow. Just when you think you understand him he goes and offers the following advice. So what does Luther suggest for battling depression and despair?
Never be alone. Act foolish and play. Drink a good deal. It would even be a good idea [...]

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Covenants and Biblical Theology (Part 1)

Presuppositions in Approach to Biblical Theology
Before beginning a study of this magnitude, a writer’s presuppositions should be placed in clear view for all readers to see. First, the canon of Scripture will be the object of our study. Evangelicals will not debate this point, but James Barr (The Concept of Biblical Theology) has questioned whether [...]

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There’s Humor in Theology 4

A characteristic of postmodernity is sometimes said to be self-mockery, not taking yourself seriously (see Walsh and Middleton’s Truth is Stranger Than It Used to Be).
But Karl Barth possessed this characteristic decades before the dawn of postmodernity. He had the following to say about his Church Dogmatics:
The angels laugh at old Karl.  They laugh at him because he [...]

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Knowledge, Fake Barns, and Sherlock Holmes

It’s one of life’s little ironies that every person on earth possesses knowledge and makes claims to knowledge while the criteria of knowledge remain so difficult to identify. Analytic philosophy has offered many claims on what are the conditions for knowledge: the familiar justified true belief formula; warranted true belief; William Alston’s epistemic desiderata approach; reliabilism; etc. Not [...]

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Blog Update

Hi All! We want to express our thanks to you for making our blogging experience enjoyable so far. We have appreciated your thoughtful comments and interactions with our posts on the doctrine of Scripture (even if some of our posts were a little long ).  We are leaving the doctrine of Scripture for the time being and [...]

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