tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64560032011-12-28T09:27:36.913-05:00Theology, <em>Semper Reformanda</em>Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.comBlogger4401100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-32674689302413287652011-06-27T17:24:00.000-04:002011-06-27T17:24:45.016-04:00

Today three of my friends and I are pleased to announce Out of Bounds, a brand new theology discussion blog.  We are all currently PhD students in Systematic Theology at the University of Aberdeen, though we have some different interests and emphases.  (And this summer will see us scattered to three countries.)  I commend the group blog (and its RSS feed) to you.  The inaugural post by Jon Coutts

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-75233970945216453762011-06-10T09:40:00.003-04:002011-06-11T18:22:45.494-04:00

I have been keeping this news under my bonnet for a few weeks, but since T&T Clark has published the full details on their site I suppose it's safe to talk.  John Webster, my supervisor here in Aberdeen, is preparing not one but two new volumes of collected essays for publication next year.  The Domain of the Word and God Without Measure will follow on his previous essay collections, Word and

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-89342455065508901162011-06-09T12:14:00.000-04:002011-06-09T12:14:08.808-04:00

At Balvenie Castle Last week the spring term wrapped up at the University of Aberdeen, where I am amazed that 1) my second year of PhD studies has gone by so fast, and 2) it's still not any warmer than about 12 degrees centigrade during the day.  The end of the school year, and the fact that a number of my good friends and compatriots are getting ready to move back to the States this summer,

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-29747131935290357572011-06-07T09:50:00.001-04:002011-06-07T09:50:38.573-04:00

My friend David Congdon has just returned from what sounds like a very stimulating 3-day conference in Notre Dame, home of the new Analytic Theology Project.  He's blogged about the Logos 2011 event this past weekend, which includes some general comments on analytic theology as an emerging subdiscipline. I'm simply posting here today to tell you to go read this.  It's one of those Things I Wish

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-45296078291814496612011-04-28T07:08:00.007-04:002011-04-28T15:08:05.649-04:00

It seems as though every time I want to know the year in which one of the volumes of the Church Dogmatics was published in German (or in English), I have to spend 15 minutes hunting through Google search results.  Since I can't find such a thing anywhere else, I present this chart for your use -- expanded to cover not only the Dogmatics but several other major works, as well. I've also included

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-28531292914640515172011-04-08T09:16:00.000-04:002011-04-08T09:16:42.533-04:00

I'm not terribly invested in the Rob Bell debates, though as I posted a few weeks ago I do find the reactions to his book a bit troublesome.  Now that his new book Love Wins is out and more than an elect few have had a chance to read it, some interesting posts have hit the blogosphere.  Rather than engage the theological issues directly (I am weary) or commit to reading the book (I am busy), let

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-34442800752034276982011-04-02T15:34:00.000-04:002011-04-02T15:34:02.946-04:00

The Center for Philosophy of Religion at the University of Notre Dame has announced a new award program to encourage faculty and schools to add courses in analytic theology to their curriculum. Five applicants will be awarded $15,000 each: $5,000 for the applying faculty member, and $10,000 for the host institution. Qualifying courses at divinity schools and departments of theology and

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-54344561745009399262011-03-24T16:46:00.002-04:002011-03-24T16:48:24.843-04:00

From Via-Crucis.net The search engine keywords that often lead readers to this blog show that, rather often, they come here looking for something I don't have -- namely, info and prayers of meditation for the Via Crucis, the Stations of the Cross (or Way of the Cross) that are observed as a religious rite by a number of Christian traditions (and particularly among Roman Catholics). Rather than

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-77973654495551752792011-03-08T17:47:00.035-05:002011-03-22T19:47:41.671-04:00

Thanks to Blogger's statistics I can see some interesting bits about who comes to the blog ... and why.  Here are some of the more interesting (and less obvious) keyword searches that visitors have plugged into Google and other search engines that led them to Via Crucis over the last several weeks ... aberdeen phd theology john webster ... I must say, these are the words I think about each and

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-61627957034573010542011-03-07T09:59:00.000-05:002011-03-07T09:59:54.410-05:00

In discussing all things universalism, Rob Bell, and the Sunday morning sermon this week, my wife reminded me of one of Jesus more challenging parables.  Some will no doubt object to its application here, since the New Testament includes a strong anti-universalist thread (as well as a parallel universalist thread, as I think any biblical scholar worth her salt will tell you).  But let's not rush

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-87127335294959206092011-03-02T08:00:00.000-05:002011-03-02T08:00:13.732-05:00

One of the great Protestant slogans for the age of the Reformation is Semper Reformanda.  You'll notice that it's above in this blog's masthead, and also in my profile over to the right.  Why?  Because, as a professional theologian (one day, knock on wood, somebody's got to pay me for this), it is one of my deepest values. The term is Latin for "Always Reforming," of course.  The idea here is

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-55596836171617699032011-03-01T12:00:00.000-05:002011-03-01T12:00:24.338-05:00

Rob Bell. Photo by Gaylene Trethewey. The Christian blogsphere is aTwitter over comments made by Rob Bell (Mars Hill Bible Church, Grand Rapids) in a 3-minute video advert for his upcoming book, Love Wins. Fans flock to his Facebook page, his NOOMA videos have been viewed by millions, and his Sunday sermons are attended by 10,000 parishioners - with a downloadable podcast reaching 50,000

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-3532862589853195182011-02-16T12:00:00.001-05:002011-02-16T12:00:01.850-05:00

Continuing from Part 1: In his sixth and final Croall Lecture on the person and work of Christ, Bruce L. McCormack has reviewed the history of Lutheran kenoticism in the nineteenth century (which concerned itself with those divine attributes that seem to be at odds with the Son's possession of a true humanity), and has made some exegetical observations on the prime passage for kenoticism,

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-13852652890645354052011-02-15T10:56:00.003-05:002011-02-15T13:06:31.072-05:00

St Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile Bruce L. McCormack's sixth lecture in the 2011 Croall Lectures tied together the many elements he had been discussing over the two week series, and bridged this series on the atonement and Jesus' death in God-abandonment with his 2007 T.F. Torrance Lectures on Reformed kenoticism.  Up to this point in the series McCormack has diagnosed a problem (or set of

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-78098563730205976822011-02-10T07:59:00.006-05:002011-02-10T15:40:23.052-05:00

Thomas Aquinas and Karl Barth: An Unofficial Protestant-Catholic DialogueJUNE 19-22, 2011 John Bowlin • Holly Taylor Coolman Robert Jenson • Keith Johnson Guy Mansini, O.S.B. • Amy Marga Bruce McCormack • Richard Schenk, O.P. Joseph Wawrykow • Thomas Joseph White, O.P. Cosponsored by the Center for Barth Studies, Princeton Theological Seminary, and the Thomistic Institute, Dominican House of

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-29346980020798097582011-02-01T11:22:00.004-05:002011-02-01T15:13:12.691-05:00

Many thanks to everyone who has been visiting the blog over the last two weeks to read up on the Croall Lectures from Bruce McCormack in Edinburgh.  It's been great to see some comments and interaction, and I'd welcome more from those who have something to say. I have just one more lecture write-up to go, which I should get to before the week is out.  This is the first week of the new term here

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-32355623654150059712011-01-31T12:00:00.005-05:002011-02-15T13:06:42.953-05:00

Lecture 5: The Cry of Dereliction: The Death of Christ In Eschatological Perspective Bruce L. McCormack (Princeton Theological Seminary) continued his 2011 Croall Lectures series this past Tuesday with the fifth of a series of six lectures on the doctrine of the atonement, cast in terms of the abandonment of the Son by God the Father.  This theme of death in God-abandonment has been pressed in

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-90336735143954002352011-01-27T10:06:00.005-05:002011-02-15T13:06:58.975-05:00

Lecture 4: Theories Which Order the Person of Christ to His Work In the fourth installment of his Croall Lectures in Edinburgh Bruce L. McCormack lays out the third and final type in a new typology of the doctrine of the atonement. (Read up on the first two types here and here.) This is where McCormack places Karl Barth and Hans Urs von Balthasar, and where I think it's safe to say he finally

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-48420115124780950952011-01-26T16:16:00.006-05:002011-02-15T13:07:15.744-05:00

Downtown Edinburgh's iconic monument to Sir Walter Scott There's never enough time to say everything you want to say in a lecture, and such was the case for Bruce L. McCormack's second installment in the Croall Lecture series in Edinburgh.  He opted to cut out the material on T.F. Torrance, knowing that he could present it in a special seminar on Friday afternoon.  So I'm calling this "Lecture

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-7994878011179129262011-01-25T08:08:00.004-05:002011-02-15T13:07:30.463-05:00

Lecture 3: 'Let Justice and Peace Reign: Theories which Fail Adequately to Integrate the Person and Work of Christ' I mentioned at the end of the previous post on Bruce L. McCormack's Croall Lectures that he is especially good at elucidating the history of Christian thought in a clear way. That's something I greatly admire and strive for in my own work as an historical theologian. In Lecture

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-13188996709037115152011-01-24T10:18:00.004-05:002011-02-15T13:07:46.787-05:00

Lecture 2: 'The Incarnation As Saving Event: Theories which Order the Work of Christ to a Metaphysical Concept of His Person' The second of Bruce L. McCormack’s 2011 Croall Lectures covers the first of three types in his proposed new typology for the doctrine of the atonement. Traditional typologies classify various descriptions of how Christ’s work saves us as either ontological (an

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-72916532546440553752011-01-19T14:42:00.005-05:002011-02-15T13:06:17.921-05:00

Croall Lectures: Series Index Lecture 1: The 'Perils' of Penal SubstitutionLecture 2: The Incarnation As Saving Event Lecture 2.1: T.F. Torrance and the Atonement Lecture 3: 'Let Justice and Peace Reign' Lecture 4: 'After Metaphysics' Lecture 5: The Cry of Dereliction in Scripture Lecture 6: The Humility of the Son (Part 1) I have been anticipating the 2011 Croall Lectures by Professor Bruce L.

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-22219996111163234202010-12-25T23:16:00.001-05:002010-12-25T23:16:56.064-05:00

With the dawn of Christmas morning the cycle of another year is completed, and all of us are reminded, some more clearly and more urgently than others, that we have been asked the question: Have you heard the Christmas message "To you is born this day a saviour?"  This question does not draw a distinction between those inside and those outside the Church, between believers and unbelievers.  It is

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-84419116452321746622010-09-07T20:21:00.005-04:002011-01-27T10:20:39.136-05:00

UPDATE: If you're just joining us for coverage of Bruce McCormack's Croall Lectures, you can find my full, daily reports and reflections here. I've been watching the University of Edinburgh's Web site like a hawk this summer, waiting for details (and firm dates) for the 2011 Croall Lectures from my Princeton Seminary professor, Bruce L. McCormack.  (We're booking travel plans from Scotland to

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-7303455973915927222010-06-28T10:19:00.001-04:002010-06-28T10:19:41.891-04:00

They needed some time apart, but the American Academy of Religion and the Society for Biblical Literature have done a little couple's counseling and are ready to move in together again!  The groups have just announced an agreement signed this month to meet in the same city and at the same time for the rest of this decade.  Schedule for 2011-13 at the bottom of this post. From the AAR

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-13155354684732319222010-06-22T12:45:00.000-04:002010-06-22T12:45:32.832-04:00

Well done, O Christ!  What shall we, poor and wretched as we are, render to You for all these benefits?  For all things are Yours, and You ask nothing of us except that we be saved.  And you have given even this to us.  Indeed, You have the thanks of those who receive it out of Your ineffable goodness.  We thank You because, although we are not, You have given that we might be, and although we

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-19068933585726438712010-06-21T09:52:00.001-04:002010-06-21T09:53:40.111-04:00

In the eighth century the Third Council of Constantinople (Sixth Ecumenical) stated against the Monothelites that Jesus Christ has two wills and two operations (or energies).  The divine nature has a will, and the human nature has a will.  Many contemporary thinkers find this a strange development in the history of christology, and indeed it is not hard to see where this might be problematic. 

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-39824915518358763012010-06-14T06:00:00.001-04:002010-06-14T06:00:05.327-04:00

Taking a cue from Kierkegaard and perhaps particularly associated with the so-called "New Orthodoxy" theologians, there is a view of the revelation of God that in the Incarnation there is both a veiling and an unveiling of God's being.  In Christ we see God truly, but also in such a way that divinity is shrouded or obscured by humanity.  This is not to lessen the significance of the Incarnation

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-19802607345588721982010-06-12T09:04:00.001-04:002010-06-12T09:05:03.414-04:00

One of my favorite blogs as an about-to-be PhD student, and now a full-fledged first year student, is Dunelm Road. Ben Blackwell is an American studying New Testament at the University of Durham here in the U.K., and he just recently finished his dissertation (congrats, Ben!).  Over the years he has posted hugely helpful things about choosing to study in the U.K., moving and living here as an

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-69519317378375274192010-06-10T11:22:00.000-04:002010-06-10T11:22:42.100-04:00

'Worship God Alone:' The Son's Human Nature as a Problem for Christian Monotheism Part I: Athanasius Part II: Thomas Aquinas Part III: François Turretin IVThus far we have witnessed three stages of development in the Christian affirmation that Jesus of Nazareth is worthy of worship – and that this fact is not at odds with trinitarian monotheism. Athanasius stressed the person as the object of

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-9520686141196446172010-06-09T09:32:00.004-04:002010-06-10T11:23:50.189-04:00

'Worship God Alone:' The Son's Human Nature as a Problem for Christian Monotheism Part I: Athanasius Part II: Thomas Aquinas IIIThe Lutheran and Reformed traditions ran with the high scholastic emphasis upon the divine gifting. With the doctrine of the communication of grace they taught that Jesus' human nature receives benefits by virtue of its being assumed by the divine Word. Among these

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-23487724007326596522010-06-08T12:11:00.002-04:002010-06-09T09:34:55.190-04:00

'Worship God Alone:' The Son's Human Nature as a Problem for Christian Monotheism Part I: Athanasius IIWe move now to the medieval and post-Reformation periods, where orthodox theologians affirmed that point stressed by Athanasius: Jesus Christ is to be worshipped because of the unity of his person. His created human nature is not to be worshipped by itself, but it receives the same adoration

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-69789573236317656972010-06-07T01:33:00.001-04:002010-06-08T12:13:22.374-04:00

Last week I presented a short paper at the annual conference for Scottish postgraduates in divinity and religious studies, held this year here in Aberdeen.  Since it's not very long, and doesn't give away any spoilers for my overall research project, I'm going to go ahead and post it here and see if anybody has any feedback or criticisms.  I'll post one section per day for four days this week.

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-36281225056856582642010-05-30T15:46:00.002-04:002010-05-30T15:48:01.335-04:00

The Christian Century has published a new review of Douglas Campbell's new book The Deliverance of God, which I know several of my friends (including this guy) were excitedly reading this year.  The review is by Princeton Seminary's own Beverly Roberts Gaventa, professor of New Testament and Romans expert and someone I had the benefit of a couple of courses with. Campbell's agenda in this 1,200-

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-67458770413359966492010-04-27T17:05:00.005-04:002010-04-27T17:09:21.868-04:00

I've been reading T.F. Torrance's fascinating little book Space, Time, and Incarnation this week.  Torrance examines competing accounts of -- yep, you guessed it -- space and time in the history of Christian theology.  On the one hand is a receptacle or container notion of space; on the other is a relational concept.  There are variations on each model, but the jist of Torrance's account is that

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-67925580191430525672010-04-20T13:22:00.002-04:002010-04-20T13:23:57.243-04:00

My friend Adam and I were recently discussing Karl Barth and T.F. Torrance on the incarnation, specifically their use of the term "God-man."  I mentioned that I thought Barth didn't care much for it.  I couldn't recall a particular critique, but it just didn't feel right with what I know about Barth's insistence upon actualism and the historicity of Jesus Christ. To demonstrate that I am not, in

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-332412671319190462010-03-25T13:10:00.001-04:002010-03-25T13:13:59.813-04:00

Karl Barth's view of the incarnation of the Son of God runs counter to most of the tradition in at least one important way:  The typical way of looking at Jesus' person is to read the humiliation of Jesus Christ -- his crude earthliness, his weakness, his suffering, his death -- as a reflection of his human nature ("Son of Man") and the exaltation of Jesus Christ -- his power, his glory, his

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-14135103178510332292010-03-20T18:23:00.003-04:002010-03-20T18:28:04.925-04:00

Hendrickson Publishers is making Karl Barth's monumental Church Dogmatics available to students, pastors and theologically-minded laypeople everywhere on a budget.  The publisher has acquired the rights to reprint the previous, 14-volume edition (recently replaced in the catalog by the new Study Edition, which translates the German, French and Latin quotations and divides the volumes up into

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-3031473690690968632010-03-16T16:44:00.002-04:002010-03-16T16:46:14.972-04:00

It is not His human nature that raises up Lazarus from the dead, nor is it His divine power that sheds tears: for the shedding of tears is peculiar to human nature while the life is peculiar to the enhypostatic life. But yet they are common the one to the other, because of the identity in subsistence. For Christ is one, and one also is His person or subsistence, but yet He has two natures, one

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-83117022129708442472010-03-05T15:42:00.002-05:002010-03-05T15:43:59.529-05:00

Eerdmans has announced the publication of the inaugural volume of The Kuyper Center Review, a new annual series from The Abraham Kuyper Center for Public Theology at Princeton Seminary.  The book series will focus on issues in public theology from the perspective of Dutch Neo-Calvinism. March 19 is the listed publication date.  Here is the series overview: The Kuyper Center Review publishes

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-37949833216822609512010-02-27T06:22:00.002-05:002010-02-27T06:28:30.122-05:00

Typically the christological term communicatio operationum shows up more in Reformed theology than Lutheran, which prefers the term genus apotelesmaticum -- one of three aspects of the communication of attributes outlined by Martin Chemnitz in his 1570 treatise The Two Natures In Christ.  The two principles have a great deal of overlap, but I'm no longer convinced they are entirely synonymous. 

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-80765190514862078202010-02-23T08:00:00.002-05:002010-02-23T08:05:06.766-05:00

The University of Aberdeen's School of Divinity and Religious Studies has announced this summer's theology conference: Theology, the Church, and Controversy:Nil Illegitimi Carborundum 1-3 July, 2010 Speakers include: Robert Jenson, Vigen Guroian, David Bentley Hart, Peter J. Leithart, Carl Trueman, John Webster, Laurence Hemming, Susan Frank Parsons, Markus Mühling, Peter McMylor, Francesca

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-43355033647806891482010-02-22T09:41:00.004-05:002010-02-23T08:08:46.106-05:00

My first book review is about to hit the presses for the March 2010 issue of Reviews in Religion and Theology, and is now available online.  Thanks to the magic of reviewing a book by an author whose name begins with the letter B, it's also the first book review in this issue! The book is Richard Bauckham's Jesus and the God of Israel: God Crucified and Other Studies on the New Testament’s

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-80598539371295935762010-02-10T12:09:00.004-05:002010-02-10T12:28:05.350-05:00

Having finally leaped with both feet into Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics volume IV/2, I am finding that the reading is much, much more slow-going. I blazed through IV/1 pretty painlessly this past fall, in part because much of it is not directly related to my christological research foci, and in part because those sections that are related I'd already read and worked with a bit.Now, in IV/2, I'm

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-76542146770649151682010-02-07T11:42:00.003-05:002010-02-07T12:03:24.462-05:00

Typically when my blog falls silent for a few months, it signals that I'm in a blogging rut and can't think of anything I really want to spend the time writing up. In this case, however, it's actually good news. I started Ph.D research in the fall, and after several weeks of rather disciplined blogging, I reached the point where I felt as though -- in terms of daily productivity -- it was

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-78639622587342384172009-11-03T06:00:00.002-05:002009-11-03T09:21:06.894-05:00

I recently attended a stimulating lecture by Dr. David Clough (University of Chester), who is working on a project on "animalist" theology. The lecture dealt with Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics, and was titled 'God became an animal: An exploration of a more-than-human account of the incarnation in dialogue with Karl Barth.'The thrust of this piece is a critique of Barth's emphasis on the

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-50433823582067270432009-10-30T07:21:00.008-04:002009-10-30T13:35:02.278-04:00

In the "Church Blogmatics" series, I will briefly summarize the major points and movements in single part-sections of Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics. This year I am reading through Volumes IV/1 and IV/2. These posts will begin with the bold summary statement with which Barth begins each major section, and conclude with a choice quotation that I think gets at a major salient point. Here is the

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-80680091055084469412009-10-27T06:45:00.006-04:002009-10-27T07:49:17.042-04:00

In the "Church Blogmatics" series, I will briefly summarize the major points and movements in single part-sections of Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics. This year I am reading through Volumes IV/1 and IV/2. These posts will begin with the bold summary statement with which Barth begins each major section, and conclude with a choice quotation that I think gets at a major salient point.§58.2 - THE

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-36521967589515887872009-10-26T10:00:00.000-04:002009-10-26T13:05:22.774-04:00

In the "Church Blogmatics" series, I will briefly summarize the major points and movements in single part-sections of Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics. This year I am reading through Volumes IV/1 and IV/2. These posts will begin with the bold summary statement with which Barth begins each major section, and conclude with a choice quotation that I think gets at a major salient point.IV/1, §58: THE

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-89482077869874039212009-10-21T18:55:00.012-04:002009-10-22T05:53:55.341-04:00

A recent exchange in a comments thread got me thinking about the 'metaphysics' in play in first century Palestine. How much were the New Testament authors influenced by Platonic thought, and how much were they rooted in Jewish ways of thinking? Is it fair to read Barthian actualism in the biblical texts, any more than Greek essentialism? When we attempt to give Scripture a fresh hearing today,

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-84659064731586171102009-10-20T08:16:00.004-04:002009-10-20T08:45:14.420-04:00

In the "Church Blogmatics" series, I will briefly summarize the major points and movements in single part-sections of Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics. This year I am reading through volumes IV/1 and IV/2. These posts will begin with the bold summary statement with which Barth begins each major section, and conclude with a choice quotation that I think gets at a major salient point.§57.3 - THE

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-47799450931747327052009-10-16T01:00:00.007-04:002009-10-22T05:52:55.356-04:00

The radio show Unbelievable? has a fascinating discussion between New Testament scholar Richard Bauckham and agnostic scholar James Crossley. At issue is how compatible the notion of Jesus as God was with Judaism in the first century. When Jews (particularly new Christian converts and Christian preachers, such as Paul) heard language attributing divine action and identity to Jesus, did it

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-73212777022543694082009-10-15T05:34:00.006-04:002009-10-15T08:23:46.570-04:00

In the "Church Blogmatics" series, I will briefly summarize the major points and movements in single part-sections of Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics. This fall I am reading through Volumes IV/1 and IV/2. These posts will begin with the bold summary statement with which Barth begins each major section, and conclude with a choice quotation that I think gets at a major salient point.§57.2 - THE

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-23390714070596713182009-10-14T14:33:00.000-04:002009-10-14T09:34:26.419-04:00

In the "Church Blogmatics" series, I will briefly summarize the major points and movements in single part-sections of Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics. This fall I am reading through Volumes IV/1 and IV/2. These posts will begin with the bold summary statement with which Barth begins each major section, and conclude with a choice quotation that I think gets at a major salient point.IV/1, §57: THE

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-88305627599622969892009-10-14T06:00:00.001-04:002009-10-30T13:33:58.155-04:00

In the "Church Blogmatics" series, I briefly summarize the major points and movements in single part-sections of Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics. This year I am reading through Volumes IV/1 and IV/2. These posts will begin with the bold summary statement with which Barth begins each major section, and conclude with a choice quotation that I think gets at a major salient point.Posts to date:VOLUME

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-20582894252845616352009-10-06T10:11:00.008-04:002009-10-06T16:09:16.776-04:00

I've landed in Aberdeen, and spent the past two weeks hunting for a flat and settling in. This week I begin doctoral studies in earnest, with my adviser giving the thumbs-up to my preliminary project outline. Good deal. Oh ... What is it, you ask? I'll be writing on the doctrine of the hypostatic union in the context of actualist metaphysics. Aw, yeah.To begin with, I will be reading Karl

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-18740681831047536972009-09-10T00:25:00.002-04:002009-09-10T00:32:09.620-04:00

Here is the compulsory and overdue explanation as to why the blog has gone silent! In late July we finished packing up the apartment in Princeton, then I spent a week driving the moving truck across the North American continent with my father-in-law. August was a month of planning and sorting -- getting ready for the move to Scotland, helping my wife's sister get ready for her wedding (and

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-35702370276076909902009-07-16T04:44:00.003-04:002009-07-16T05:09:35.909-04:00

Earlier this week I posted a critique of chapter 4 of Oliver Crisp's book Divinity and Humanity (Cambridge: 2007), on the question of whether Jesus' human nature was fallen (or unfallen, perhaps like Adam and Eve's before they first sinned). Dr. Crisp has responded to that post directly, in the comments section. Since my reply grew long and the conversation has already pushed into new territory

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-54881679331146825382009-07-13T08:00:00.002-04:002009-07-14T14:01:50.169-04:00

We know the classic Christological formulation: Jesus Christ was fully divine and fully human. He was like us in every way, except without sin (Heb. 4:15). But did Jesus Christ have a fallen human nature, like you and I do? Or was his human nature pristine and untainted by the propensity toward sin ('concupiscence'), as we might describe that of Adam and Eve before the Fall?* This is a major

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-3175769282940324992009-07-10T13:14:00.004-04:002009-07-10T13:43:26.150-04:00

Happy Birthday, Calvin! The Genevan Reformer and father of the Reformed theological tradition is 500 today. To celebrate, all week long I have been posting segments of a paper I wrote on Calvin's Christology. That series concludes below.Check out this post for links to more celebratory Calvin resources, including how you can spend the year reading through the Institutes (online or by RSS, even

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-35956773925654231982009-07-09T04:22:00.002-04:002009-07-09T15:03:02.610-04:00

Series Index:Part 1 - Introduction; I. Christ the MediatorPart 2 - II. Two Natures In ChristPart 3 - III. The Hypostatic UnionIV. The Communication of PropertiesThe communication of properties is for Calvin an affirmation of the hypostatic union. The Scriptures "sometimes attribute to him what must be referred solely to his humanity, sometimes what belongs uniquely to his divinity; and

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-53354848197850678042009-07-08T10:00:00.005-04:002009-07-08T10:00:03.066-04:00

Series Index:Part 1 - Introduction; I. Christ the MediatorPart 2 - II. Two Natures In ChristIII. The Hypostatic UnionTogether the two natures make Jesus utterly unique, the God-Man who has been sent to provide mediation between God and human beings, to reconcile and to redeem. Those passages of the 1559 Institutes which affirm the deity of Christ (I.xiii.7-13) and the humanity of Christ (

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-91801620072790051182009-07-07T10:00:00.005-04:002009-07-07T12:18:02.481-04:00

Series Index:Part 1 - Introduction; I. Christ the MediatorII. Two Natures In ChristCalvin affirms the two natures doctrine as expressed by the council of Chalcedon: "We therefore hold that Christ, as he is God and man, consisting of two natures united but not mingled, is our Lord and the true Son of God even according to, but not by reason of, his humanity" (II.xiv.4, 486). As we have said,

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-69853941095604511422009-07-06T17:28:00.007-04:002009-07-06T17:50:53.030-04:00

What follows in this post, and each day this week, is a paper I wrote for a course on John Calvin's life and theology. The full title is "God and Man For Us: John Calvin's Use of the Two Natures Doctrine." (Feedback is most welcome!) For blog readability, footnotes have been removed and page references inserted into the text. All citations from the Institutes are from the current McNeill/

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-54403751033935786562009-07-06T17:05:00.005-04:002009-07-06T17:26:31.527-04:00

On Friday the Christian world -- especially we Reformed types -- celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin (July 10, 1509), who was instrumental in the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland and who laid the theological groundwork for a theological tradition which today claims millions of adherents among such groups as Presbyterians, Dutch Reformed, Christian Reformed, and many

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-32021770906134509802009-07-04T13:24:00.005-04:002009-07-04T18:34:43.321-04:00

The orthodox tradition has historically affirmed that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully human. The persistent question, however, is how far we ought to equate the man Jesus with the divine Logos, the second person of the Trinity who is eternally preexistent. This question of Jesus' relationship to the eternal Word of God is at the heart of the debate over kenoticism, which Bruce L.

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-47233629624220238062009-06-27T22:53:00.008-04:002009-06-28T00:03:51.346-04:00

I'm compiling a list of upcoming theology and biblical studies conferences, with an eye toward which ones I'm going to attend and to which I'm going to try and get a paper proposal submitted (especially now that I am headed for the U.K.).If you know of any that aren't on this list, please let me know and I'll consider adding it! Also, if you are in-the-know at these host institutions and know of

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-90483832292864208082009-06-26T08:00:00.001-04:002009-06-26T12:51:32.178-04:00

In revisiting John Webster's chapter on the incarnation in his collected book of essays Word and Church, I came across this helpful passage on the hypostatic union of the divine and human natures in Jesus Christ:The union is utterly unique, an instance of itself, and in no sense a complement, completion or parallel to any other realities. The hypostatic union is not the most exalted instance of

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-83803700837531167272009-06-25T11:51:00.002-04:002009-06-25T12:01:22.477-04:00

For those looking for the day-by-day recaps of the fourth annual Karl Barth Conference in Princeton, here are the direct links:Conference Announcement & ProgramDay 1: Garrett Green, Ben Myers, Scott Jones, Charles WestDay 2: Richard Fox Young, Lai Pan-Chiu, Mark LindsayDay 2: Katherine SondereggerDay 3: Matthew Myer Boulton, panel discussionAlso visit Der Evangelische Theologie for photos and

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-23292934825400502102009-06-24T18:00:00.003-04:002009-06-24T18:50:58.805-04:00

This year's Karl Barth Conference at Princeton Theological Seminary has concluded, with a final lecture this morning and a panel discussion with six of the nine presenters.Matthew Myer Boulton (Harvard Divinity School) lectured on the topic 'True Idolatry - Karl Barth on the Christian Religion.' As I mentioned yesterday, a great deal of this conference has been preoccupied with what Barth had to

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-4284309015340902582009-06-24T01:14:00.000-04:002009-06-24T01:14:18.107-04:00

Continuing on (or rather kicking off) Day 2 of the Karl Barth Conference, Tuesday began with an anticipated lecture from Katherine Sonderegger (Virginia Theological Seminary), titled 'Karl Barth's Christology and the Faith of Israel.' This paper culminated in a challenge to Barth and Barth studies, and to actualized metaphysics, and generated some terrific responses and discussion throughout the

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-1873722289161669242009-06-23T21:25:00.004-04:002009-06-23T23:32:19.707-04:00

Day 2 of the fourth annual Karl Barth Conference draws to a close on the campus of Princeton Theological Seminary, with lectures today by four scholars on a wide variety of topics on the theme of Karl Barth on Religion and the Religions.Allow me to leave today's opening lecture for last. Once again, I make no pretense that this recap is anything approaching a full and fair summary of these

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-11714114537727555672009-06-23T20:25:00.005-04:002009-06-23T20:40:32.774-04:00

With a big thanks to Ben at Faith and Theology for the "Myers Bump," I'd like to welcome all first-timers to Via Crucis. This week I am blogging about the 2009 Karl Barth Conference in Princeton -- and today's update will be along shortly!This little theo-blog has sat quietly in the corner of the blogosphere as I posted off and on for a number of years, through three years at Wheaton College

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-43270904951777759052009-06-22T19:59:00.017-04:002009-06-23T20:21:34.965-04:00

The fourth annual Karl Barth Conference is off and running! We have a good group of scholars, pastors, lay people, and students gathered at Princeton Seminary for Karl Barth on Religion and the Religions. The event is hosted by the Center for Barth Studies and the Karl Barth Society of North America.Rather than pretend to offer you a thorough recap of each lecture, I'll simply share some

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-60313703540567303722009-06-20T01:35:00.002-04:002009-06-20T01:38:26.926-04:00

The cornerstone of my research involves the classic doctrine of the communicatio idiomatum, or "communication of properties" (or attributes). Since the early generations of the church, this concept has been used to try and explain how Jesus Christ can be simultaneously both fully God and fully human -- that is, how these two natures (which are categorically distinct) could be hypostatically

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-64970931928979548792009-06-19T12:01:00.001-04:002009-06-20T02:29:49.537-04:00

Following up on this post from last month, my wife and I have decided to uproot and move to Aberdeen, Scotland this fall! Well, we have to uproot either way -- I graduated from Princeton Seminary last month, and they don't look too fondly on squatters. I thought about staying and just showing up for class again in the fall, but eventually decided against it.We are planning a move at the end of

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-53863585438358974912009-06-06T00:00:00.004-04:002009-06-10T01:24:50.381-04:00

Interested in seminary? I've had a fantastic 3-year experience at Princeton Theological Seminary in central New Jersey, and am proud to recommend my alma mater. Only a few days after graduation, here are five reasons why I would recommend it (in no particular order):1) FAITH AND THOUGHT. An academically rigorous seminary like PTS is a terrific place to find the church and the academy meeting,

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-52068830843231853902009-05-30T17:34:00.004-04:002009-05-30T17:46:11.934-04:00

It appears to be official: Kevin Vanhoozer is moving from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, down the street to Wheaton College (my alma mater).Vanhoozer is the author of many volumes -- perhaps most-known is The Drama Of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach To Christian Theology (Westminster John Knox, 2005). He's interviewed by Wheaton's Justin Taylor at Between

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-47826537106155683982009-05-29T22:32:00.007-04:002009-05-30T17:22:06.500-04:00

Currently I am working my way through Divinity and Humanity: The Incarnation Reconsidered (Cambridge, 2007) by Oliver Crisp, a book that looks at six key issues in christology. It's a fun read -- mainly because I find so much of it objectionable (more on that to come). This week I discovered that Continuum is publishing a sequel volume this fall, titled God Incarnate: Explorations in

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-59603696307178368252009-05-29T00:33:00.003-04:002009-05-29T00:37:15.770-04:00

What follows is a short precept paper that I wrote for Daniel Migliore's (final) course on Karl Barth this past semester.In §59.1 of the Church Dogmatics, “The Way of the Son of God into the Far Country,” Barth has pressed Anselm’s famous theological question to its next step: How did the eternal God become a human being? How can we speak of Jesus’ humility (tapeino.w – Phil. 2:8) and obedience

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-42259991287002939382009-05-25T21:58:00.005-04:002009-05-25T22:15:43.489-04:00

This year's conference hosted by the Center for Barth Studies in Princeton, New Jersey will be held June 21-24! Finally, after three years at PTS, I intend to make it to one of these. This year's topic is "Karl Barth on Religion and the Religions."This year's conference speakers include:Matthew Myer BoultonAssistant Professor of Ministry StudiesHarvard Divinity SchoolLecture: "True Idolatry -

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-27306975965420931492009-05-21T20:34:00.005-04:002009-05-24T12:34:42.797-04:00

You've heard the question, "Which five books would you want to have if you were stranded on a desert island?" Well, how about this one: "Which books would you want to have if you were in Scotland for three years doing PhD research?"I've been building my theology library for years now, only to discover that my PhD studies will be taking place in another country ... and I can't take them all with

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-42653812435868388512009-05-20T21:36:00.005-04:002009-06-20T02:30:11.058-04:00

In February my wife and I found ourselves with few (if any) options for our future, for where to go after I graduate from PTS this spring. I applied to four PhD programs -- Princeton Seminary, Notre Dame, Emory, Boston College -- and didn't get into any of them. C'est la vie. I decided to apply to a batch of one-year Master of Theology programs and try again next year.I've been accepted into

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-66731683651854040522009-04-25T20:04:00.006-04:002009-04-25T21:03:43.803-04:00

This week I completed the last of my course work in the three-year Master of Divinity program at Princeton Theological Seminary. Graduation is still four weeks away, but already I'm feeling reflective on my experience here.I came to Princeton in 2006, 30 years old and ready to challenge myself. I had been living in Nashville with my wife and new son for the two previous years, working a desk job

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-1909013645366902822008-10-08T22:54:00.007-04:002009-05-21T16:31:44.916-04:00

The PTS theo-bloggers continue their coverage of the 2008 Stone Lectures on Jonathan Edwards with David Congdon's report on George Marsden's fourth lecture. Wednesday night's installment is entitled "Jonathan and Sarah Attend a Megachurch: the Religious Affections and Evangelicalism Today."Here is a snippet:The premise of this lecture is: if John and Sarah Edwards attended a megachurch, how

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-63540686973033559602008-10-08T00:23:00.005-04:002009-05-21T16:31:32.147-04:00

Chris TerryNelson has posted his summary of the third lecture in George Marsden's Stone Lecture series on Jonathan Edwards and contemporary culture. Tuesday night's lecture is titled “Edwards’s Vision and the Religion that Whitefield and Franklin Shaped.” Here's a sample:Although Whitefield and Edwards were both involved in the Great Awakening, and they respected each other very much,

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-8104540952457823072008-10-07T15:00:00.000-04:002008-10-07T16:05:56.175-04:00

2008 Stone Lectures: “Edwards's Visionin the Land that Franklin Built”Tuesday, October 7, 2008By George MarsdenPrinceton Theological SeminaryLecture / Blogging ScheduleGeorge Marsden continues this week's Stone Lecture series with a critical comparison of the cultural and theological outlooks of Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin, two American contemporaries of rather different religious

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-53194561772551494452008-10-07T08:28:00.007-04:002008-10-07T08:54:47.917-04:00

This year's Stone Lectures are being delivered this week on the campus of PTS by George Marsden, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Marsden is lecturing on the topic "Rip Van Edwards: President Jonathan Edwards Returns to Princeton After 250 Years."Look for David Congdon's report on last night's first lecture now:The basic question which Marsden hopes

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-21828724145053071152008-10-04T17:34:00.008-04:002008-10-04T22:55:00.299-04:00

Professor George Hunsinger's long-awaited volume "The Eucharist and Ecumenism: Let Us Keep the Feast" is now available from Cambridge University Press. Here is the publisher's description:The theology of the Eucharist has long been the subject of heated debate, particularly since the Reformation. George Hunsinger's book explores ways in which Christians might resolve their differences in this

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-40337566354672442302008-09-25T23:57:00.006-04:002008-10-04T19:02:59.815-04:00

To begin christology with any abstract metaphysics of divine being -- no matter how 'Chalcedonian' that metaphysics might be! -- is therefore to fail to allow our talk about God to be guided and structured by the gospel itself.- Ben Myers, Faith and TheologyThis is a paradigm-busting statement. I love it. The suggestion is that we ought not begin "God talk" with abstract metaphysical

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-8971586836569511582008-07-31T13:01:00.009-04:002008-10-04T19:03:20.863-04:00

As part of my summer internship at GreenFaith, I've put together this intro to environmental concerns for Evangelicals and other conservative Christians. This was a challenging exercise, as I have never really thought through the implications of my theology for "creation care" before. But I found it to be highly compatible with my Reformed views of divine sovereignty ... and anthropological

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-36714708134032705042008-06-18T15:49:00.006-04:002008-10-04T19:03:59.979-04:00

'Tis the season for a number of theology and theology-like conferences, both here in the Princeton area and online. Here are a few I am following:Envision 08 took place in Princeton earlier this month, gathering theologians, activists, and church leaders to discuss a myriad of issues related to "the gospel, politics, and the future." PTS student David Congdon attended, and gives in-depth (I

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-63896732842119271492008-06-18T08:22:00.007-04:002008-10-04T19:08:09.223-04:00

A couple of nice interviews, if you are a fan of these shows and haven't seen them yet:WIRED magazine's interview with Battlestar Galactica creator (reinventor) Ronald D. Moore is quite long and in-depth, and has some great insight into the show's genesis, the challenges of writing and production, and some key issues on politics, characters, and series mythology. Of particular interest to me is

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-63096066230675003292008-03-20T18:26:00.005-04:002008-10-04T19:08:16.293-04:00

Check out GateWorld for my in-depth review of the new DVD movie Stargate: The Ark of Truth:With the arrival of Stargate: The Ark of Truth on DVD, the 10-year saga that left a lasting mark on science fiction television finally comes to an end. The producers of the TV series had hoped to go on to an eleventh season, and when SG-1 was cancelled they opted not to conclude the two-year Ori storyline

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-467533595641872992007-12-03T23:08:00.001-05:002008-10-04T19:05:03.139-04:00

What follows is the text of my very first, official, preached-in-church on Christ the King Sunday (November 25), sermon. (I will spare you the link the audio file!) Overall I'm pleased with the content and with how it went at our Presbyterian church, where I am interning this school year.Every time I finish a sermon (one in church, four times in class this semester), I feel like I've learned so

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-25282241629687499872007-12-03T22:51:00.001-05:002008-10-04T19:05:13.768-04:00

Renowned theologian Thomas Forsythe Torrance passed away early Sunday morning. Word reached the theological community on Sunday afternoon, and institutions including Princeton Seminary officially confirmed the news today. Princeton's Professor George Hunsinger has written a brief eulogy.Torrance is held up as one of the most significant Reformed theologians of the twentieth century. A student of

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-54237982368156562992007-10-16T00:44:00.001-04:002008-10-04T19:05:54.641-04:00

I know little about the analogia entis as a philosophical framework for theology. I find the conversation appealing as a sort of second-order reflection on theology as a discipline -- and I know that Karl Barth rejected the traditional position in favor of an analogia fidei. The analogy of being, as I understand it, suggests that the analogical relationship between Creator and creation is the

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-64131213132996628592007-09-24T01:00:00.000-04:002007-09-23T23:16:55.926-04:00

The new fall season is upon us, and once again the major networks are chasing after the successes of Lost and Heroes and trying to come up with the next big drama that has a science fiction or fantasy twist. As a big genre fan, here is what I'll be checking out this season:CHUCK (Mondays at 8 p.m. E/P - NBC). NBC is taking advantage of its Heroes success by turning Monday nights into a sci-fi

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-1785159649282507772007-09-21T00:00:00.000-04:002007-09-21T01:33:31.932-04:00

I'm rarely happy with a blog name for very long, so I've already changed the title of this newly relaunched blog: now Via Crucis, Latin for "the way of the cross." As I like Latin theological terms and coming across like a nerd, I think it will stick.Yesterday the new school year officially commenced at Princeton Theological Seminary. Classes look good so far, though I am not entirely satisfied

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6456003.post-61692132734189097992007-09-18T00:59:00.000-04:002007-09-18T02:44:56.355-04:00

Best thing I've heard on The Colbert Report in months:One of tonight's guests was Jesuit priest and author of My Life With The Saints, Father James Martin. The topic of discussion was Mother Theresa and her recently-discovered doubts about God. As Stephen continued to throw questions at him that tried to (jokingly) portray Mother Theresa as an atheist, the interview ended with this exchange:

Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14982514539447292224noreply@blogger.com2