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"Covenant" is the Bible's central way of describing the Lord's relationship to his people. In the Ancient Near East, a great king (suzerain) would rescue a smaller kingdom or city. On the basis of this deliverance, the lesser ruler would become the vassal (servant), part of the wider empire of the great king. As you […]
Have you ever wondered what it might have been like to sit in a home in ancient Ephesus (or Thessalonica or Corinth) and listen to an apostle open up the Old Testament and preach a Christ-centered sermon? What would it have been like for a Jew who recently came to believe that Jesus was the […]
Do you know as much about the Old Testament as you do about the New Testament? The women’s Bible study group in my church didn’t, and they decided to do something about it. When I joined in, they had been faithfully studying through books of the Old Testament for over a year. So when they […]
In the Lutheran tradition, three names stand out above all others: Martin Luther (1483-1546), Martin Chemnitz (1522-1586), and Johann Gerhard (1582-1637). As the father of the Reformation, Luther needs no introduction, even among non-Lutherans. Chemnitz is also well-known, primarily for his role in the production and propagation of the Formula of Concord (1577) and his […]
A jingle that I had drummed into me as a schoolboy ran, “Good, better, best; never let it rest; until your good is better and your better best.” For quite a while this helped me deal with a tendency to settle for mediocrity instead of pursuing excellence, a useful lesson for someone who preferred a […]
In the Old Testament, three different kinds of people take center stage in the story of God’s salvation of hispeople Israel: prophet, priest, and king. These were real offices filled by real people. Prophets rebuked sin, proclaimed mercy to the crushed, and interpreted events of the past, present, and future. They functioned as mediators proclaiming […]
I admit that I was (and am) an athletic misfit, but I suspect I wasn't the only one always picked last for kickball in school. Did you ever eat alone in the cafeteria? Were you ever rejected by the "cool kids" in high school? We all need to know that we are accepted, valued, and […]
There's so much we don't know about the Epistle to the Hebrews. We don't know who wrote it or when. We don't know for sure where or to whom it was written. We don't know exactly what challenge its recipients faced, or exactly how they were tempted to compromise in response. But here's one thing […]
There are some specialized chapters in Scripture, such as the "love" chapter (1 Cor. 13), the "godly woman" chapter (Prov. 31), and the "resurrection" chapter (1 Cor. 15). But the best known is Hebrews 11, the "faith" chapter. One of the challenges to a right understanding of Hebrews 11 is our temptation to extricate it […]
This series of sidebar articles from Dennis Johnson is adapted from the presidential address atthe annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society Far West Region, “From All the Scriptures (Luke 24:27): Preaching Jesus from the Old Testament” (April 2012). Dennis Johnson is professor of practical theology at Westminster Seminary California in Escondido. 1. The Sermon […]
This book is the product of a recent theological conference that sought to understand the Chinese church. The conference featured church leaders from China who shared and participated in dialogue for a better understanding of Reformed theology and its traditions on a global scale. As a Chinese Reformed Christian from the West who has ministered […]
