What Have We Lost Before the Cross? Jürgen Moltmann opens the preface of his landmark work The Crucified God (1972) with these words: “The Christian life of theologians, churches and human beings is faced more than ever today with a double crisis: the crisis of relevance and the crisis of identity.” This single sentence still… Continue reading The Crisis of Relevance and the Crisis of Identity — Moltmann’s Diagnosis of the Church’s Dilemma
Tag: Reformedtheology
The Bible Is Revolutionary — The Book That Made Kings Tremble
People died because of a book. Simply for reading it. Simply for translating it. Simply for holding it in their hands. In medieval Europe, the Bible was a forbidden text. Ordinary people caught reading it faced execution. The church and state joined forces to keep this book out of the hands of the people. Why?… Continue reading The Bible Is Revolutionary — The Book That Made Kings Tremble
Until the Bible Was in Our Hands — Those Who Risked Their Lives to Pass On the Word
“If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy who drives the plough to know more of the Scriptures than you do.” These were the words William Tyndale hurled at a clergyman of his day. It was a reckless declaration. In that era, translating the Bible into one’s native tongue was… Continue reading Until the Bible Was in Our Hands — Those Who Risked Their Lives to Pass On the Word
The Church Is His Body
“The church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” — Ephesians 1:23 (ESV) What is the church? The question presses upon us today with a peculiar urgency. Some think of the church as a building they visit on Sunday mornings. Others identify it with a denomination, or simply as… Continue reading The Church Is His Body
Gutenberg’s Printing Press and Divine Providence: How the Word Changed the World
One Lead Type Overturned History In a workshop in Mainz, Germany, in the 1450s, Johannes Gutenberg (1398–1468) drew inspiration from a wine press, arranged metal type, and applied ink to paper. The result, completed around 1455, was the Gutenberg Bible — the forty-two-line Bible. To modern eyes, it may appear to be nothing more than… Continue reading Gutenberg’s Printing Press and Divine Providence: How the Word Changed the World
Why Sola Scriptura? The Case for Scripture Alone
There was a thousand years of silence. Ordinary believers in medieval Europe had never held a Bible in their hands. The Scriptures, written in Latin, belonged exclusively to the clergy. Worship was conducted in a language no one could understand, and salvation could only be obtained by following the procedures prescribed by the Church. To… Continue reading Why Sola Scriptura? The Case for Scripture Alone
The Beauty of Putting Others First — A Culture of Partnership Shaped by the Gospel
“Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.” (2 Peter 3:15) Every time I read this sentence written by Peter, my heart is warmed. This is not simply a passing mention of a colleague. The words “dear brother”… Continue reading The Beauty of Putting Others First — A Culture of Partnership Shaped by the Gospel