Themelios 50, 2 (August 2025)

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

Editorial

J.V. Fesko

On Scholarship, Swords, and Scalpels

Strange Times

Daniel Strange

On (Not) Considering Theological Training

Kevin DeYoung

Does the American Revision of the Westminster Confession Contradict the Original Version on the Doctrine of the Civil Magistrate?

This essay reflects on how Presbyterians changed their views on the civil magistrate in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. My contention is that Reformed political thought has not been static, and, in fact, that American Presbyterianism saw itself as correcting elements of the earlier tradition.

Jared Garcia

Was David Overreacting? Analyzing 1 Samuel 25 in Light of the Ancient Hospitality Code

Was Nabal’s refusal to give food for six hundred people such a terrible wrong that David in 1 Samuel 25 would have been justified in seeking vengeance by killing Nabal’s entire household? Did David simply overreact? This paper demonstrates that an acquaintance with the hospitality code of the Ancient Near East aids in the understanding of the events in 1 Samuel 25. First, part 1 analyzes the ancient hospitality code, examining typical scenes of hospitality along with observations from social anthropologists who study Mediterranean culture. Part 2 exhibits how the hospitality code answers the questions raised from the narrative in 1 Samuel 25.

G.K. Beale

Contextualizing the Controversial Instructions in 1 Timothy 2:11–15: A Response to Sandra L. Glahn, Nobody’s Mother

This article critically engages Sandra L. Glahn’s book, Nobody’s Mother, which attempts to offer further evidence from the ancient Greek world that supports the arguments that Paul’s instructions in 1 Timothy 2:11–15 are temporary restrictions and statements addressed only to a very specific occasion in first-century Ephesus. The author concludes that Glahn does not convincingly prove her argument and that 1 Timothy 2:11–15 still has ongoing validity for understanding the role of women in the church of the present day.

Todd R. Chipman

Fighting to the Finish: Five Roles for Endurance in Revelation

This essay is the second of a two-part analysis of John’s use of the articular substantival participle. John uses this grammatical form in various ways across his diverse literary contributions to the New Testament. One common use portrays roles humans might embrace or reject. In a previous essay, I investigated nine of the nineteen uses of πιστεύω as an articular substantival participle in the Gospel of John. In those places, John collocates this role-portraying grammatical form of πιστεύω with eternal life (3:15, 16, 36; 5:24; 6:35, 40, 47; 11:25, 26). Here, I use five headings to describe John’s use of the articular substantival participle, noting roles humans might embrace or reject in Revelation: [1] The One Who Reads and Hears God’s Word (1:3; 22:17, 18); [2] The One Who Conquers (2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; 15:2; 21:7); [3] The One Who Is Oriented Toward God or the World (2:7, 11, 17, 2:29; 3:6, 13, 22; 13:18; 17:9; 18:19; 20:6); [4] The One Who Is Slaughtered for The Testimony of Jesus (6:9; 18:24; 20:4); [5] The One Who Thirsts for God (21:6; 22:17). These roles identify the many practical ways that Jesus’s followers demonstrate their allegiance to Jesus, serving as a corrective to fatalism or passivity in the last days.

Kenneth J. Stewart

Hardier than Supposed: The Resurgence of Calvinism Across the 20th Century

The past quarter-century’s upsurge of interest in Calvinism has shown a strong tendency to under-value movements from the first half of the twentieth century. These earlier movements provided resources which in fact undergird what we have witnessed in our own lifetimes. These earlier efforts were international, transatlantic, and trans-denominational. They were not dominated by marginalized groups or isolated individuals on the fringes of Protestantism but included thinkers and writers drawn from both doctrinally comprehensive and self-consciously conservative churches.

Joshua M. Sims

The Church as Sacrament of Salvation in Roman Catholic Theology

This article examines the Roman Catholic doctrine of the church as “sacrament of salvation” first formally introduced in Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium (1964). Starting with the pre-Vatican II exclusivist position, the article traces how this doctrine developed from the Church-Incarnation idea, where the church continues Christ’s incarnational presence. The analysis reveals diverse Catholic interpretations ranging from conservative to inclusivist-universalist approaches. The article concludes with a reformed theological critique challenging three key aspects of the Roman doctrine: its universalist tendencies, its ontological rather than ethical understanding of salvation, and its diminishment of Christ’s ascension. The article advocates instead for a covenantal ecclesiology that maintains clear boundaries and emphasizes Christ’s completed work.

Roland Weisbrot

The Role of the Regula Fidei in the Twenty-First- Century Religious Landscape: How the “Rule of Faith” Can Help Address the Existential Issues of the Postmodern Christian Community

This article offers a historical-systematic analysis of the role of the rule of faith in establishing and maintaining the Christian metanarrative and orthodox scriptural interpretation. It seeks to answer who is truly following the historic Christian faith in the contemporary postmodern milieu. The modern relevance of the rule is established in light of the work of two twentieth-century theologians, Paul M. Blowers and Robert W. Jenson, who respectively posit a narrative and linguistic function for the rule. Therefore, the rule provides insights for contemporary theological questions by supplying a framework of faithful guidelines through which to engage them fruitfully.

Gavin Ortlund

Angelic Fall Theodicy in Dialogue with Tolkien, Augustine, and Aquinas

This article explores the relationship between Tolkien’s angelology, as reflected in his fictional writings, and classical angelology, particularly as represented by Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. Two aspects of classical angelology are examined: (1) the relation of angels to material creation and (2) the role of stewardship over material creation that God entrusted to angels. Particular attention is given to Augustine’s discussion of whether the angels “inhabit” or merely direct the stars, as well as to Aquinas’s teaching that all corporeal creatures are ruled by angels. It is suggested that classical theological reflection on angels in these areas can resource current articulations of angelic fall theodicy, especially those drawing from Tolkien. Specifically, classical angelology encourages ways of construing the relation of angels and material creation that may blunt the common charge of arbitrariness against the mechanism of angelic fall theodicy.

Anthony V. Costello

Philosophical Foundations of a Transgender Worldview: Nominalism, Utilitarianism, and Pragmatism

Every social and political phenomenon has some prior, underlying philosophical basis. The phenomenon of transgender ideology is no different. To many, transgenderism seemed to explode on the scene, as if from nothing. But transgenderism is not an ideology created ex nihilo. Its radical ideas and aggressive activism are grounded in foundations laid by other philosophical views – three in particular – which have long been taken for granted in western culture. Recently, Christian philosopher Abigail Favale has identified major shifts in the transgender movement and given a biblical answer to transgenderism’s claims. However, the underlying philosophical foundations of transgender ideology persist. Until these are addressed, we will find ourselves confronted by even more radical movements than transgenderism.

Jonathan D. Worthington

Empathy and Its Counterfeits: Navigating The Sin of Empathy and a Way Forward

In our families, churches, or neighborhoods; in political discussions, situations of accused abuse, or racially charged conversations; in polarizing times, compassion must be wed with relational exegesis, the well-established name for which is empathy. Empathy involves three primary components: understand, resonate, self-differentiate. When we dismiss or silo empathy research in favor of a popular but bastardized form of “empathy,” which Joe Rigney has done in his recent book The Sin of Empathy, a hamstringing of pastoral insight runs rampant. Rigney, swallowing a pop-culture definition of “empathy” against good research practices, has provided a counterfeit to empathy that leaves pastoral counsel about practical and cultural issues mostly impotent. This review article provides sound research on empathy, a helpful perspective on research itself, and therefore a responsible way forward in such polarized times.

Book Reviews

Jonathan Tame and Luke Tame on Reimagining Social Welfare

The latest Cambridge Paper from the Jubilee Centre is available online (here, from where a pdf can be downloaded), this one by Jonathan Tame and Luke Tame:

Jonathan Tame and Luke Tame, ‘Reimagining Social Welfare: Lessons from Geneva’s Transformation’, Cambridge Papers 26, 4 (December 2017).

Here is the summary:

‘Britain’s social welfare system is facing a long-term crisis in sustainability, particularly due to the size of the government’s unfunded pension liabilities. On the 500th anniversary of the Reformation we look to Geneva as a case study in an approach to social welfare shaped by Christian principles. We examine how Calvin and the city-state set up an integrated system for welfare provision through the General Hospital, and poverty prevention by strengthening families and education. Five main themes are drawn out, which provide some historical distance to our own challenges regarding social welfare. The paper then considers how marriage and extended families could be strengthened, and local churches and Christian organisations can become welfare advocates in their communities.’

Free eBooks on John Calvin

Desiring God have made available here three eBooks on John Calvin: T.H.L. Parker’s Portrait of Calvin, John Piper’s John Calvin and his Passion for the Majesty of God, and With Calvin in the Theater of God: The Glory of Christ and Everyday Life, edited by John Piper and David Mathis, which, in my opinion, contains some excellent essays.

Calvin and World Mission

Thomas Schirrmacher (ed.), Calvin and World Mission: Essays (Nürnberg: VTR Publications, 2009).

The World Evangelical Alliance makes available a copy of this book from this page (pdf here), a collection of essays in German and English on the role of Calvin in theological reflection on mission.

The description gives some idea of the scope of the collection:

‘At the end of the “Calvin-Year”, in which Christians all over the world celebrate Calvin’s 500 birthday, this books emphasizes Calvin’s role for establishing a Protestant mission theology which later led to a worldwide expansion of Protestant Christianity. The book presents major articles on the topic through 125 years of history and from different viewpoints from 1882 to 2002. Some of the articles discuss Calvin and his writings and thinking on mission alone. Some add the question, what kind of mission has been organized from Geneva during Calvin’s time, because Calvin did not only speak about evangelism and mission, but also helped establish it in reality, even though on a quite small scale compared to later centuries. Some articles go further, and follow the students and followers of Calvin and their relation to mission through history. Thus sometimes the wider topic of “Calvinism and Mission” is included. This book has not been edited to defend ‘Calvinism’ and its dogmatic system. This has even from Calvinism’s own firm position to be done on exegetical grounds. Nevertheless some of the authors wrote their articles as a defense of Calvinism or at least as very convinced Calvinists. Others write more from a neutral point of view as historical researchers.’

Roger E. Olson on Reforming the Reformed

A few posts back, I referred (here) to a new book by Kenneth J. Stewart – Ten Myths About Calvinism: Recovering the Breadth of the Reformed Tradition (Nottingham: Apollos, 2011).

Though not himself a Calvinist, Roger E. Olson has written a largely sympathetic review of the book for Christianity Today, saying: ‘I find Stewart's approach refreshing; it gives me hope that both sides can be self-critical and fair as they discuss their differences.’

As Olson notes:

‘[Stewart] has not abandoned Calvin, predestination, or TULIP. He affirms Calvin as a major part of the Reformed tradition while arguing, like many of his Reformed contemporaries, against slavish imitation. He embraces the doctrine of predestination as unconditional election of all individuals, either to heaven or hell, while contending for enough breadth within the Reformed tradition to favor single predestination. And he criticizes TULIP mainly for its ungenerous language and extreme interpretations, preferring, for example, “definite atonement” or “particular redemption” to “limited atonement,” because the latter seems to limit the value of Christ’s death.’

However:

‘By correcting contemporary Calvinist myths about Calvinism, Stewart intends to overcome a “self-imposed ghettoization” that may evidence “an unacknowledged remnant of the fundamentalist era of the early twentieth century.” He calls for all Calvinists to be more historically aware, to stop thinking of Calvinism as a system derived straightforwardly from the pages of the Bible... Stewart concludes that the new Calvinists need to recognize how their movement “stands in succession to and dependency on … earlier movements.”’

Olson concludes that ‘Young, restless, Reformed Calvinists – indeed, all of Geneva’s progeny – ought to heed the sage advice of this Reformed theology professor and scholar of Calvinist history’.

Kenneth J. Stewart on Ten Myths about Calvinism

Kenneth J. Stewart, Ten Myths about Calvinism: Recovering the Breadth of the Reformed Tradition (Nottingham: Apollos, 2011), 256pp., ISBN: 9781844745135.

I just got a copy of this title. The ten myths, should you want to know, are split into two sections:

Part 1: Four Myths Calvinists Should Not Be Circulating (But Are)

1. One Man (Calvin) and One City (Geneva) Is Determinative

2. Calvin’s View of Predestination Must Be Ours

3. TULIP is the Yard Stick of the Truly Reformed

4. Calvinists Take a Dim View of Revival and Awakening

Part 2: Six Myths Non-Calvinists Should Not Be Circulating (But Are)

5. Calvinism Is Largely Anti-missionary

6. Calvinism Promotes Antinomianism

7. Calvinism Leads to Theocracy

8. Calvinism Undermines the Creative Arts

9. Calvinism Resists Gender Equality

10. Calvinism Has Fostered Racial Inequality

I suspect the heart of Stewart’s burden is captured in the subtitle – recovering the breadth of the Reformed tradition.