Issue
Canon Formation
Vol. 19, No. 3 • May/Jun 2010
It is increasingly common even in evangelical circles today to hear traditional Roman Catholic arguments for the Bible as “the church’s book” and the church as “the mother of Scripture,” as if the community created its own constitution. We are engaging sola Scriptura in a variety of ways in this issue, but this article focuses […]
All Articles (13)
Sufficient for Faith and Practice
It is increasingly common even in evangelical circles today to hear traditional Roman Catholic arguments for the Bible as “the church’s book” and the church as “the mother of Scripture,” as if the community created its own constitution. We are engaging sola Scriptura in a variety of ways in this issue, but this article focuses […]
Gospels, Gospels Everywhere?
Why are we still talking about the Gnostic gospels? After all, the church has successfully weathered The Da Vinci Code storm, despite the tumultuous frenzy it caused. As New Testament professor Ben Witherington quipped, “When people calmed down, they realized it was closer to hysterical than historical fiction.” (1) Furthermore, when the Gospel of Judas […]
The Bible As We Know It
This sovereignty of Scripture over the church may be defended not only from the New Testament but secondarily from the actual process by which the post-apostolic church arrived at the canon. Our twenty-seven books in the New Testament canon were first codified in an official list at the councils of Carthage (393) and Hippo (397). […]
On Faith and History
One of the most treasured classics of the ancient world is the saga of the Trojan War known as The lliad. Homer, the book’s author, lived about 800 years before Christ, while the Trojan War he reports on took place some 400 years prior. Therefore, The lliad is not an eyewitness account of the war, […]
Canon and Catholicism
Over the years, there have been numerous attempts to bring Roman Catholics and Protestants together under the mutual banner of Christianity. In 1970, a book was published titled Growing into Union: Proposals for Forming a United Church in England, which sought to unite Anglican evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics. In 1994, another attempt was made to bring […]
“A Treatise on the Law and the Gospel” by John Colquhoun (1748-1827)
If not familiar with law and gospel, one might identify the former with something like People’s Court and the latter with a smiling evangelist saying, “God loves you.” Fortunately, the nature of the relationship between law and gospel as found in Reformed theology is precisely the subject of John Colquhoun’s (pronounced “ka-hoon”) recently republished A […]
The Bible
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What Did Jesus Write in the Ground? The Controversy and Mystery in John 8
“The Pharisees were guilty of the same kind of sin they wanted to see this woman executed for. And that’s why they walk away from the scene with their tails between their legs. The story ends with Jesus showing mercy to the woman and calling her to repentance, highlighting the fact that contrite sinners make […]
How God’s Promise to Abram Is Fulfilled in Christ
There is more to the Abrahamic covenant than just this family and just that land. As will become clear from the rest of Genesis and from the New Testament, Abram knew that the earthly land of Canaan was just a picture of heaven itself (Heb 11:10). Likewise, he came to understand that the key to becoming a vast nation was a single son. From the one, special boy of Abram, the blessings would flow to the nations, who is Jesus Christ (Gal 3:7–9). By faith in Christ, we become the heirs of these ancient promises.
Our Victory Is Between the Flags of Sound Doctrine
Following sound doctrine requires our eyes to remain fixed on Jesus. It also requires that our faith rests in him. Faith opens the door to God’s plan and allows us to accomplish his will for our lives. It does so chiefly because it fosters a heart that yields to the counsel and leading of God. In this way, we remain on the road of truth.
Four Tips for Reading the Bible’s Prophetical Books
The Prophets are not just abstract apocalyptic literature, included in the canon of Scripture because of their audience or subject matter. No, they—like the rest of Scripture—are the divinely inspired word of God. They are included in the unfolding of God’s redemptive plan and written within the covenant context of God and his people for a theological purpose, reflecting a specific historical and geographical context.
