Redemptive History
We experience radical changes in our Christian life now and then, but it’s not all about change. It’s about being in some way the same new creation you were when you died and were raised with Christ in baptism. [...]
Part question, part protest, the plaintive cry “Are we there yet?” punctuates any family vacation worth talking about. Clearly, we’re not where we were, but we also haven’t arrived [...]
On a clear day, I can see the Italian Alps from the balcony in my study. Their impressive form stares at me like the imposing faces of majestic giants, sculpted by deep lines of grey and green, crowned with snow-topped peaks. Living in Milan, I know that the Alps are never far away. Although a […]
The book of Hebrews begins with a divine self-exposure in which the God who “spoke to our fathers” by the prophets of the Old Testament reveals himself to be the God who “has spoken to us by his Son” (Heb. 1:1–2). That is to say, the Christ of the New Testament is not only central […]
Modern Reformation recently sat down with pastors Michael Brown and Zach Keele to talk about their book, Sacred Bond: Covenant Theology Explored, 2nd ed., with a foreword by Michael Horton (Wyoming, MI: Reformed Fellowship Inc., 2017). MR: How does the whole story of the Bible fit together? ZK: How much time do you have! There […]
The Old Testament depicts a host of potential saviors who end up failing (often spectacularly) to show that even the best of us are not enough. Even our prospective redeemers need salvation. It is not until we get to Jesus that we find a Savior who can bear the crushing weight of our sin because […]
As we read in Acts 2 about Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given to the apostles, it's important to ask what God intended that event to be’a paradigm for church revival, or a unique, unrepeatable redemptive-historical event. Before considering the answer, it's important to recognize that Pentecost belongs to the history of salvation (the […]
Several years ago, when a friend recommended the television show 24, I went to my local video store (back in the day when there was such a thing) and found the relevant section. I noticed that the first few episodes were checked out, so I grabbed an episode halfway through the first season in order […]
Addressing over a thousand Israeli school children, University of Tel Aviv professor George Tamarin told a story of "General Lin." Using religion as a pretext for "ethnic cleansing," the general, who presided over the Chinese kingdom three millennia ago, ordered a massacre of men, women, and children throughout China. When asked for their response, only […]
In a recent White Horse Inn roundtable discussion, hosts Michael Horton (MSH), Ken Jones (KJ), Kim Riddlebarger (KR), and Rod Rosenbladt (RR) discussed the "Big Picture" of the Bible. How do we invite new Christians into the strange world of the Bible and encourage them to see it, first of all, as one story from […]
What The Iliad and The Odyssey were to the Greeks and what The Aeneid was to the Romans, the book of Exodus was to the Hebrews. It was the story within which they defined their own lives as a story. Let the reader understand: the Exodus event was paradigmatic or world defining for the […]
In countless ways, our lives are interwoven with the lives of others. Other people have shaped my personal history, impacted my daily work and well-being, and held sway over my future prospects. The ingenuity of Thomas Edison or Steve Jobs, the poet or musician who summons sublime stirrings in the heart, the broken car window […]
There was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judg. 21:25). This is the opening song playing as the curtain is drawn back on 1 Samuel. Who will be the king that Israel truly needs? The people are on stage first. Saul’a tall, regal GQ model’receives the People's Choice […]
Even though few of us have ever worked with sheep, the line "sheep without a shepherd" resonates for all of us. A scene flashes before our mind's eye of kids on a playground with no adults: it's Lord of the Flies. So it was this imagined scene that frosted Moses' mind when God told him […]
