Trillia Newbell et al. on Being Beautifully Distinct

Every month, The Good Book Company make available digital versions of one of their books at no charge. This month (May 2025) it’s Beautifully Distinct: Conversations with Friends on Faith, Life, and Culture, edited by Trillia Newbell, which is available in exchange for an email address here.

Centre for Public Christianity (May 2025)

The Centre for Public Christianity has posted a ‘Life and Faith’ interview (here) with Oliver Burkeman on ‘time management for mortals’.

The blurb:

‘Everyone is pressed for time, and in a never-ending quest to conquer their schedules. It’s why productivity tips and hacks are big business these days.

‘But underneath our productivity problem is a reality no one wants to face: the fact that we’re all going to die, argues self-described “recovering” productivity expert Oliver Burkeman, and the author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. The average human life is about 80 years, or some 4000 weeks, and the sooner we come to grips with the ultimate deadline, the better off we’ll be, argues Burkeman.

In this interview with Life & Faith, Oliver explains how “mortality” emerged as a theme for his 2021 book, how the solace of “deep time” – as experienced during times of flow, prayer, meditation, and hiking – connects us with our humanity, how AI might change the game for human creativity, and how he, as someone more drawn to Eastern religion, makes sense of our yearning for more time, for more than one life.  

‘The shadow of Christianity – with its promise of transcendence, eternity, and being situated in an unfolding story that stretches before and after our earthly lives – looms over the conversation.’

Themelios 50, 1 (April 2025)

The latest Themelios is online here (and available here as a single pdf), containing the below articles.

Editorial

Brian J. Tabb

A Case for Education Today

Strange Times

Daniel Strange

Glorifying Service in Self-Obsessed Times

Mark Saucy

The Future of Difference: Evangelicals and Gender Essentialism

Against a wider cultural narrative that now pathologizes even biologically determined differences between men and women, evangelicals respond with a theological anthropology grounded in the biblical texts. This essay briefly traces the intellectual history of those determined to erase gender difference and in contrast proposes a biblical paradigm of difference based upon the theology of the body and the relationality of the soul. A final section offers an analysis of evangelical egalitarianism and complementarianism against the culture’s paradigm and the proposed biblical account. Both sides make important contributions to the issue, but only one, appropriately modified, offers a way into the fullness of Scripture’s message the church needs in our cultural moment.

Megan Stedman

“Ancient Gnosticism in New Garb?” Gnostic Anthropology, Transgenderism, and a Response from Tertullian

A number of Christian scholars, such as Oliver O’Donovan and Nancy Pearcey, have compared the modern transgender movement with the ancient heresy of Gnosticism. While this comparison is a common one, it is worth evaluating its validity. Examining the early church’s dialogue with gnostic thought provides valuable insights into the validity of a comparison of ancient Gnosticism with the ideas behind transgenderism. A survey of ancient gnostic sources, the work of Tertullian, and the claims of queer theory shows that such a comparison is viable when properly nuanced. Therefore, Tertullian’s refutation of Gnostic thought has much to offer the contemporary church as it attempts to engage with the transgender movement.

Jonathan Ginn

The Tree of Life in the Book of Proverbs

This study seeks to discern what connection – if any – there might be between the use of “tree of life”… in the books of Proverbs and Genesis 1–3. It attempts, first, to understand how Solomon’s worldview has been shaped by the Torah and the Davidic Covenant. Next, it considers all four occurrences of “tree of life” in Proverbs (3:18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4) within their respective literary and structural contexts. Ultimately, it concludes that Solomon has employed “tree of life” to teach his son – the future Davidic king – the proper pathway towards re-entering the Edenic experience of covenant life with Yahweh.

Donnie L. DeBord

Granted Life in Himself: Is It Plausible to See Eternal Generation in John 5:26?

Eternal generation once stood as a cornerstone of Christian theology, shaping our understanding of the Trinity, Christ, and salvation. Yet, it faces the charge of lacking scriptural support. This article hopes to provide an exegetical examination of John 5:26 to see if the text does provide a firm grounding for the doctrine of eternal generation and how it could shape our understanding of the doctrine.

Todd R Chipman

Faith and the Future: The Role of the Believer in the Gospel of John

John’s lexical and grammatical choices portray his vision for how believers should respond to God’s revelation in his Son. John uses the articular substantival participle in a way that can best be described as a role John would have believers embrace or reject to demonstrate their allegiance to Jesus. Effectively, these articular substantival participles are like roles in the Jesus drama. In his Gospel, John writes πιστεύω as an articular substantival participle nineteen times. Nearly half of these John collocates with references to eternal life. In this essay, I employ four headings to describe John’s collocation of πιστεύω as an articular substantival participle and references to eternal life in his Gospel: (1) New Birth, Believing, and Eternal Life (John 3:15, 16, 36); (2) Believing Jesus’s Words and Eternal Life (John 5:24); (3) Believing, Satisfaction of Hunger and Thirst, and Eternal Life (John 6:35, 40, 47); and (4) Believing, Resurrection, and Eternal Life (John 11:25, 26). I conclude that John’s description of the role of the believer portrays the quality of eternal life available to Jesus’s followers before natural death and the quantity of life they will enjoy with God after natural death. I argue that John’s now-and-forever framework of eternal life emboldens believers to testify of Jesus before natural death since they are sure of what they will enjoy with him in eternity.

Michael S. Yu

Not I, But Christ: An Exploration of Galatians 2:17–20

In Galatians 2:15–21 the apostle Paul addresses the core issue of the epistle and sets forth his central thesis concerning the “truth of the gospel.” While justification by faith figures prominently in the passage, to some interpreters Paul appears to shift his emphasis in verses 17–20 towards other theological matters. This article offers a reading of Galatians 2:17–20 that keeps forensic concerns at the forefront of Paul’s thinking and suggests that justification is his consistent focus throughout Galatians 2:15–21. Such an interpretation also coheres with the priority of the forensic principle in the apostle’s soteriology.

Phil Thompson

A Taxonomy of Interpretations for Colossians 1:24

Interpreters need a systematic taxonomy for interpreting Colossians 1:24, a pivotal yet challenging passage in Colossians. One’s interpretation of this verse holds vast implications for Pauline studies and New Testament studies. Existing interpretive frameworks provide limited help, but a conceptual matrix that modifies the approach of Jacob Kremer provides a better approach for mapping existing and future interpretations of the verse. This taxonomy plots interpretations along two axes: literal/historical versus spiritual/ongoing lack, and internal/personal versus external/corporate goals. If successful, this taxonomy will help future interpreters speak with far greater clarity about their own positions and the positions of others.

Isaac Tuttle

Slavery, Submission, and Separate Spheres: Robert Dabney and Charles Hodge on the Submission of Wives and Enslaved People

Robert Dabney and Charles Hodge were two of the most influential Presbyterian theologians of nineteenth-century America. This paper is a comparative analysis of how they each thought about submission in the institutions of marriage and slavery. As a theologian, professor, and Confederate chaplain, Robert Dabney developed stringent arguments for both slavery and patriarchy, wedding them in his defense of hierarchy and the social order. The Princeton theology professor Charles Hodge represents a moderate approach to both the question of slavery and marital relations, but his nuance did not prevent him from slipping into the cultural assumptions of his day.

Ryan Currie

Christ Existing as Church-Community: Bonhoeffer’s Ecclesiology and Religionless Christianity

Bonhoeffer’s theology is well known for generating many contradictory interpretations. This is especially the case for his concept of “religionless Christianity.” In this article, I argue that the religionless Christianity of Letters and Papers from Prison must be understood in light of his theology of sin and ecclesiology. Bonhoeffer’s theology of the church presented in his earlier academic works provides the interpretive key to understanding what he wrote later in his life. I present Bonhoeffer’s theological sociology of humanity in Adam (peccatorum communio) and the community of the church (sanctorum communio) in order to offer an interpretation of his religionless Christianity. Bonhoeffer’s ecclesiology is both theologically and practically rich and worthy of consideration, but evangelicals should be cautious of areas where Bonhoeffer was influenced by the liberalism of his day.

Pastoral Pensées

Greg Palys

Cut Off Your Hand, Save Your Soul: How the Outer Self Affects the Inner Self in the Fight against Lust

Prayer, Scripture memory, and Scripture meditation are essential strategies for battling lust. Yet Christ’s stark commands to cut off a hand and tear out an eye reveal the role our outer selves play in the fight against lust. These commands identify that our outer selves are not merely a means by which we externalize lust but are also a means by which we can either inflame or dampen lust. Matthew 5:27–30 invites us to cut off touchpoints with temptation and to expect that this will diminish lust, thereby aiding the paramount work of inward heart change.

Book Reviews

Global South Theological Journal 3, 2 (2024) on James and Mission

The latest edition of the Global South Theological Journal is devoted to ‘the Epistle of James and the Mission of God’.

The articles and their abstracts are as below, with individual essays available here.

In addition, those interested in James and/or missional readings of Scripture should also check out: Abeneazer G. Urga, Jessica A. Udall, and Edward L. Smither (eds.), Reading James Missiologically The Missionary Motive, Message, and Methods of James (Pasadena: William Carey Publishing, 2025).

Youdit Tariku Feyessa

The Wholeness of Life as Christian Mission: Reading the Epistle of James in Contemporary Ethiopia

This article explores the concept of "wholeness of life" in the Epistle of James, arguing  that it is a foundational principle for Christian mission, encompassing terms like “completeness,” “perfection,” “integration,” and “maturity.” It draws parallels between James's teachings and the  holistic mission advocated by Qes Gudina Tumsa, a prominent Ethiopian church leader. Tumsa emphasized a holistic ministry that addresses socio-political, cultural, and economic issues, urging the church to engage proactively in its mission. The article examines the significance of wholeness in James, Tumsa's holistic theology, and the relevance of these concepts for contemporary Ethiopia, which faces numerous challenges such as poverty, conflict, and religious extremism. It concludes that understanding and applying the notion of wholeness in Christian mission is crucial for addressing the complex issues in Ethiopian society today.

Phyllis D. Johnson

“Love Your Neighbor” as a  Missionary Method in James’ Epistle

Phyllis D. Johnson's article, "Love Your Neighbor” as a Missionary Method in James’ Epistle, delves into the missional theology embedded in the book of James, particularly chapter 2. Johnson argues that a deeper hermeneutic reveals James’ emphasis on the Royal Law: “Love your neighbor as yourself,” derived from Leviticus 19:18 and reinforced by Jesus.  This principle serves as a moral and ethical guide for believers, urging practical expressions of faith through compassionate actions.  The article explores the broader biblical context of “neighbor,” extending beyond cultural and national boundaries. Johnson posits that James’ epistle calls the church to  function as a missionary outpost, advocating for social justice and care for the marginalized. By integrating faith and works, James emphasizes the importance of living out kingdom principles, thereby fulfilling the Great Commission and reflecting God”s love to all humanity.

Melesse Woldetsadik

Walking the Talk: Jacobite Exhortation as a Missiological Method

A study of the Epistle of James reveals that true faith is expressed in obedience. The message of the letter, therefore, is not just a set of rules but a call to transformation, transcending the mere observance of rules. It is designed to shape a new community of disciples who embody a new way of life, a life that belongs to the new era established by Jesus Christ through His death and resurrection. This new life changes believers and enables them to radiate Christ's life to the world. The letter advocates for a life of faith expressed through obedience, providing practical biblical principles for living in a way that pleases God and fosters connections with others. The book is designed to inspire dispersed messianic communities to uphold God's moral and ethical standards in their daily lives and, in doing so, to experience the transformative power of Christ.

Abyot S. Gashute

Holiness and the Mission of God in the Epistle of James

James’s central critique in the Epistle is faith that is devoid of practical action or ethics. Genuine Christian faith should be reflected in practical ethical conduct. The theme of holiness and the mission of God is explored from the perspective of the practical nature of holiness that is aligned with God’s mission. Holiness involves practical action that reflects the genuineness of faith. True holiness is expressed in practical ways, both in fulfilling personal and communal ethical responsibilities through guarding oneself against the wickedness of the world (1:27; 4:4), loving one’s neighbor (2:8), caring for the needy (1:27; 2:14–17), and administering justice for the oppressed (2:6–7; 5:1–6). In James, Christian faith (orthodoxy) and ethics (orthopraxy) are inseparable, and the practical nature of holiness and the mission of God is founded on these two aspects of Christianity.

Evangelical Alliance on Changing Church 2025

The Evangelical Alliance UK has published a report – Changing Church 2025 – based on a survey of ‘more than 300 church leaders and nearly 1,000 church members’.

Following an earlier report published five years ago after the ‘significant disruption brought on by Covid-19’, the Evangelical Alliance ‘surveyed church leaders and individuals to find out what has changed since the pandemic, and compared the findings to previous surveys’.

Some of the questions they set out to explore include:

• How has church attendance changed?

• Are people coming to faith?

• What’s the picture for children and youth ministry?

• Is there a crisis of volunteering for churches? Is this affecting the role of churches in their communities?

• Has giving to churches kept pace with rising costs?

More information is available here and here, and a pdf of the report is available here.

Christian History Magazine on The Mercersburg Movement

The latest issue of Christian History Magazine is devoted to the Mercersburg Movement.

From the blurb:

‘In a small seminary in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania in the nineteenth century, a movement was taking shape that would swim against the tide of much of American Christianity. It challenged common revivalistic practices, anticipated ecumenical movements of the following decades, and pursued ancient church practices that centered the presence of Jesus Christ. And it did not do so quietly.

‘In this issue of Christian History, meet the conservative rebels who sought to recover sacramental Protestantism and crafted the Mercersburg movement: John Williamson Nevin and Philip Schaff. Both ministers in the German Reformed Church, scholars, and theologians, they and their students faced heated controversy, charges of heresy, and criticism from many – including Charles Hodge and the luminaries of Princeton Seminary, Charles Finney and his fellow revivalists, and the influential leaders of their own German Reformed Church.

‘Though not widely known or understood today, the ripples of the Mercersburg movement can be felt throughout much of the American church. Discover how Mercersburg theology has challenged, shaped, and refined Christian practices in nineteenth-century America and beyond in this latest issue.’

The whole magazine is available as a 14.7 MB pdf here.

Mission Frontiers 47, 3 (May–June 2025)

The May–June 2025 issue of Mission Frontiers, published by Frontier Ventures, contains a number of articles devoted to the topic of ‘The Third Culture Kid (TCK) Experience’.

Here’s the issue blurb, which sets the scene:

‘I remember about ten years ago the International Director of my mission agency saying at a bi-annual gathering, “When God called you to cross-cultural ministry, he called your family. He has a plan for your children as well.” This was meant to comfort and strengthen the parents sitting in the audience. Regardless of the truth of his statement, TCKs will have mixed feelings about his sentiments, as this issue will reveal. Some have come to the place of deeply owning those truths, while others are still very much on the journey.’

The issue is available here, from where individual articles can be downloaded, and the entire issue can be downloaded as a pdf here.

The Master’s Seminary Journal 36, 1 (2025)

The latest Master’s Seminary Journal has been posted online. According to the Editorial, the focus of the current issue ‘is global missions and the biblical charge to take the gospel to the ends of the earth’ (2).

A pdf of the journal can be downloaded here.

Iosif J. Zhakevich

Editorial: Proclaiming Christ to the Ends of the Earth

M. Scarborough

A Missions Imperative: Developing a Mature Church

Global missions has a unique place in the life of the Church and should not be deemphasized or confused with other Christian activities. Regrettably, even when the distinctness of the missionary calling is maintained, the importance of helping local churches develop to maturity is often overlooked. It is imperative that missionary candidates and their sending churches grasp the value of helping national churches become mature. However, not all who are called to overseas ministry will be suited to this unique and challenging role. Those who desire to minister to the local church and assist her in becoming healthier need to plan and prepare well. The missionary who can serve as a professor-pastor may be uniquely positioned to contribute to the development of mature churches.

Kyle C. Dunham

The Abrahamic Covenant as the Foundation for Missions

The strategic role played by the Abrahamic covenant as the expression of God’s saving intention for the nations is commonly accepted. Questions remain, however, as to the nature of the Abrahamic covenant and as to how the Abrahamic covenant relates to the task of missions. This study assesses the covenant in its linear disclosure across Genesis by positing four covenant stages that range from promise to confirmation with a concluding emphasis on blessing. Alongside this, the author suggests the terminology for the covenant within dispensational interpretation should move beyond the conditional/unconditional framework to understand it as a regulated royal grant guaranteed by God. In that the covenant carries direct and indirect relationships with other biblical covenants, this understanding sets the stage for the Abrahamic covenant’s role in later Scriptural revelation. As the foundation for God’s unfolding plan of redemption through its particularity, agency, and intention, the covenant serves as an impetus for Christian missions and affirms a continued role for Israel within a dispensational missiology.

Chris Burnett

The Missionary’s Guide to the Great Commission: An Exegetical Analysis

Few would dispute the foundational nature of the Great Commission to missions and missiology. This article seeks to provide a clear exegetical analysis of the Great Commission passages in the New Testament, focusing on Matthew 28:18–20 and supplementing it with the other texts. By considering these passages, Christ’s mandate to His Church becomes clear: to make disciples in the image of Christ with the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. This underlines the primacy of the Word of God, indispensable to the missionary’s task as he fulfills the mission appointed for him by Christ.

Jason S. DeRouchie

“Him We Proclaim!”: Paul’s Motivation, Means, and Mandate for Missions in Colossians 1:24–29

Cherif Arif

The Isaianic Influence on Paul’s Understanding of Israel’s Salvation and Restoration in Romans 11:26–27

This article explores the influence of Isaiah upon Paul’s theology of Israel’s future salvation and restoration. As Paul describes Israel’s rejection of the gospel, he details that this is a partial hardening, an observation he makes in light of Isaiah 24–27 and 59–60. These texts which recount the glorious future for Israel are woven together in Paul’s writing as he envisions a future hope because of God’s gracious choice. God will not abandon the people He has chosen but will redeem them and bring them to Himself. This glorious future stirs Paul to preach the gospel and devote himself to prayer, the essential tasks of the biblical missionary.

Brian Kinzel and Oleg Korotkiy

The Biblical Perspective on the Hatred of Israel and Its Implications for Antisemitism: To Be the Enemy of Israel Is to Be the Enemy of God

Hatred of Israel and modern-day antisemitism is anything but a new phenomenon. Though its presence has ebbed and flowed throughout history, it is as old as the nation of Israel. Understanding the biblical testimony about this malevolent hatred is essential. This analysis explores the biblical perspective on the hatred of Israel, asking and answering the fundamental question: Why has the nation of Israel been subject to such hatred throughout history? The Old and the New Testaments present both the historical and the spiritual roots of this hatred against God’s chosen people.

E.D. Burns

“The Conflict Is Upon Us”: Resisting Ecumenism and Hyper-Contextualization

Recent cultural trends have increased pressure on missionaries to contextualize the gospel in an ecumenical fashion that minimizes sound theology and does injustice to the Word of God. This article examines the origins of these trends and their impact upon missions theology today. Rather than giving way to societal pressures, missionaries are called to prioritize the work of evangelistic proclamation in a manner faithful to Scripture. Missionaries should live out the exhortation given by the Apostle Paul in their preaching of the truth: “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love” (1 Cor 16:14).

Dave Deuel

Disability, Weakness, and Prayer in Mission

Why would God give missionaries weakness? Should disability be viewed as limiting involvement in missions? These questions arise in the fallen world that we inhabit. However, a biblical missiology recognizes the inherent value of weakness to the pursuit of missions according to the plan of God. Weakness humbles the proud and self-dependent missionaries, forcing them to rely upon God alone. It is a means of success, not failure; for when Christians are weak, then they are strong. This article examines the role of disability and weakness in the God-exalting work of missions.

Scott N. Callaham

A Biblical Proposal for Theological Education in Mission

Theological education is essentially absent from most missiological discussion, despite standing at the center of the Great Commission. In response, founded upon trust in the full authority and sufficiency of all of Scripture, this article presents a biblical proposal for theological education in mission. This call to action lays out a biblical vision for the theological education of missionaries and those whom they serve on the mission field. May the church return to its mission and teach all the nations to keep all the commands of Jesus, to the end of the age.

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