I confess I was rather surprised at reading Professor Nedelisky’s courteous response to my review—my impression of the book was positive (notwithstanding a fault or two), and rarely have my critiques been faulted for holding the author to a standard he never intended to meet. Nonetheless, I’m grateful for the time and consideration he has […]
Wednesday, 15 September, 2021 by John J. Bombaro
John Bombaro: In God’s Two Words you bring Lutherans and Reformed into conversation on the distinction between law and gospel. What is it about this topic that compelled you to choose it as a conversation piece for today? Jonathan Linebaugh: In the sixteenth century, the Protestant reformers both had wanted to have this kind of […]
Tuesday, 29 December, 2020 by John J. Bombaro, Jonathan A. Linebaugh
Christobiography: Memory, History, and the Reliability of the Gospels by Craig S. Keener Eerdmans, 2019 743 pages (hardcover), $37.99 The question of the reliability of the canonical Gospels has been a central debate in New Testament studies since the advent of the German higher critical movement. Every twenty years or so, the debate resurfaces with […]
Wednesday, 01 July, 2020 by John J. Bombaro
Transhumanism and the Image of God: Today’s Technology and the Future of Christian Discipleship by Jacob Shatzer IVP Academic, 2019 192 pages (paperback), $22.00 February 1999 Christianity Today magazine cover featured “The New Theologians” with a capture of N. T. Wright, Ellen Charry, Miroslav Volf, Kevin Vanhoozer, and Richard B. Hayes—new theologians who were top […]
Sunday, 01 March, 2020 by John J. Bombaro
The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor’s Heart by Harold L. Senkbeil Lexham Press, 2019 290 pages (hardback), $21.99 After nearly three and a half decades of parish ministry and two dozen more teaching and as the executive director for spiritual care for DOXOLOGY: The Lutheran Center for Spiritual Care and Counsel, Harold Senkbeil, trusted […]
Wednesday, 01 January, 2020 by John J. Bombaro
With dozens of books on the reliability of the Gospel accounts on the shelves, Can We Trust the Gospels?—by Tyndale House principal and Cambridge University lecturer Peter J. Williams—distinguishes itself by its mastery of materials, high accessibility, and relevance. Williams is a world-renowned expert on New Testament texts and manuscripts (debating to considerable effect the […]
Monday, 01 July, 2019 by John J. Bombaro
If there’s a topic that doesn’t get a lot of air time in confessional circles, it’s the significance of space and place. Spaces do mean, that is, ‘places’ in their relationship to people, and times carry and convey meaning. In his book Nostalgia, Anthony Esolen wants to emphasize that places necessarily bear theological meaning, particularly […]
Tuesday, 16 April, 2019 by John J. Bombaro
Timing is everything and, if it weren’t for the massive scandals unfolding from within the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, Christians in the Age of Outrage might have had its moment. The present status of online dialogue is such that any and all rebukes toward greater civility, charity, and thoughtfulness are appropriate, and the author […]
Tuesday, 02 April, 2019 by John J. Bombaro
In an emerging genre that includes recent titles from Brian Thomas (Wittenberg vs Geneva, 2016) and Robert Kolb & Carl R. Trueman (Between Wittenberg and Geneva: Lutheran and Reformed Theology in Conversation, 2017), Jonathan A. Linebaugh, lecturer in New Testament at the University of Cambridge, edits an outstanding contribution from noteworthy Lutheran and Reformed scholars […]
Thursday, 07 February, 2019 by John J. Bombaro
The rather pathetic truth about our adolescent obsessions with social media, digital distractions, apps galore, podcasts, gaming, entertainment programming and the like, has come to light in a number of national stories about familial denouement, altered neural pathways, and stunted societal awareness, yielding what Mark Bauerlein calls The Dumbest Generation. Alan Noble brings the conversation […]
Tuesday, 13 November, 2018 by John J. Bombaro
Prayers of confession or repentance in the corporate setting teach us that we are called to repentance daily, even in our private settings. The Agnus Dei, the “Lamb of God” anthem, is a highly memorable prayer of praise perfectly suited to those devoted to Holy Communion. The Kyrie Eleison (“Lord, have mercy”) is an ancient […]
Thursday, 01 November, 2018 by John J. Bombaro
A phenomenon that continues throughout evangelicalism is the juxtaposing of unaided, private, individual prayer with liturgical prayer, as if the two related like oil and water. The former is seen as lively, earnest, and Holy Spirit-prompted, whereas the latter is frequently depicted as dead, perfunctory, and contrived. Wherever this contrasts exists, “free, from the heart” […]
Thursday, 01 November, 2018 by John J. Bombaro