Introduction: Recovering the Order of Theology Christian theology has always required method even if it is not acknowledged . From the patristic era onward, the church has wrestled with the relationship between Scripture and doctrinal formulation. Yet in modern theological practice, the disciplines have frequently drifted apart. In the early centuries, doctrinal controversies were exegetical … Continue reading Exegetical Theology: a Methodological Proposal
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Participating Without Competing: Removing Competition From Divine Sovereignty and Human Freedom
Is God in control? If God is in control how can I be free? If I am free, how can God be in control? Few theological tensions feel as sharp as this one. The question has animated Christian theology from Augustine's controversy with Pelagius. It continued to the sixteenth-century disputes between Arminius and his Reformed … Continue reading Participating Without Competing: Removing Competition From Divine Sovereignty and Human Freedom
Understanding God’s Pure Actuality in Christian Theology
The question is not whether God is living, loving, and free. Those affirmations belong to the unanimous confession of Christian theology across every era and communion. The question is what those words mean when predicated of the One who says, "I AM WHO I AM" (Exod 3:14). Can a being who lives, loves, and acts … Continue reading Understanding God’s Pure Actuality in Christian Theology
Leaving, Dwelling, and Returning
Lexical Repetition, Narrative Architecture, and Covenant Movement in Genesis The apparent tension between God’s command to Abraham to leave his land and kindred and God’s command to Jacob to return to his land and kindred is not a loose thread in Genesis. It is a carefully woven feature of the narrative. When read in isolation, … Continue reading Leaving, Dwelling, and Returning
“That God May Be All in All”: Messianic Subjection and Trinitarian Consummation in 1 Corinthians 15:28
First Corinthians 15:28 has long been a crux interpretum for Christology and Trinitarian theology. Paul’s claim that “the Son himself will be subjected” has been read by some. They believe it implies eternal subordination within the Trinity. Some interpreters have taken Paul’s language in 1 Cor 15:28 in different ways. Some suggest it shows that … Continue reading “That God May Be All in All”: Messianic Subjection and Trinitarian Consummation in 1 Corinthians 15:28
The Church as the Visible People of God: An Exploration of Ecclesiology
Before the church ever gathers, organizes, sings, or sends, God has already acted. The church is not a humanly devised institution. It is a divinely constituted, visibly ordered people. They are brought into being by the gospel. They are structured by apostolic teaching and sustained by participation in Christ. Ecclesiology in the Churches of Christ … Continue reading The Church as the Visible People of God: An Exploration of Ecclesiology
How Can Ordinary Congregations Become Extraordinary
Texts: Colossians 3:17; Philippians 1:9–11; Revelation 3:14–22 I. The Mystery of "Something Special" What separates great businesses from average businesses? What makes Buc-ee's better than all the other gas stations? It's not just the bathrooms (though they're immaculate). It's not just the snacks (though the selection is staggering). It's something else. It's the culture. Every … Continue reading How Can Ordinary Congregations Become Extraordinary
Can I Ever Love Enough???: Fulfillment of the Law Through Christ’s Love
There exists in the heart of the Torah a command so absolute, so all-consuming, so magnificently unreasonable that it might have been written by God. "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deut 6:5). The words arrive not as suggestion but … Continue reading Can I Ever Love Enough???: Fulfillment of the Law Through Christ’s Love
When Will Christ Reign in His Kingdom?
The question is not whether Christ reigns, but when that reign began. The New Testament insists the kingdom arrived in Christ's first advent, not in some postponed millennium. This thesis challenges a widespread futurism that misreads the already/not yet tension by collapsing the "already" into pure futurity. The Exegetical Foundation The Kingdom Has Come Jesus … Continue reading When Will Christ Reign in His Kingdom?
Why I Believe God is Perfect Blessedness
Jesus asked, “why do you call me good? There is only one who is good.” But if we press further, we must ask: What kind of good? A relatively good God? A distant perfection? A static absolute? God is not merely perfect in power or knowledge. He is perfect in blessedness. He is complete, overflowing, … Continue reading Why I Believe God is Perfect Blessedness
Donnie's Dogmatics 