Few English Bibles translate John 1:14 with the word tabernacled. The Recovery Version (RcV) is one of those rare exceptions: And the Word became flesh and tabernacled [ἐσκήνωσεν] among usR…| conversant faith
1 John is a short but tricky epistle to pin down. The Greek isn’t the problem—here’s where first-year seminary students start their translation careers, however short lived! John’…| conversant faith
Occasionally, Witness Lee referred to the Body of Christ as a “four-in-one organic entity.”1 In this post, I will explain the origin, meaning, and theological function of this phrase. I will …| conversant faith
How did I go to Princeton Theological Seminary, take two classes on Barth, do a Church Dogmatics reading group at night with Hunsinger, get a letter from Reichel, help McCormack move out of his off…| conversant faith
Vincent W. Lloyd, Black Dignity: The Struggle Against Domination (New York: Yale University Press, 2022), pp. xvi + 208. $26.00. Black Dignity: The Struggle Against Domination offers a clear and challenging account of human dignity grounded in “the ideas animating today’s racial justice movement.” (34) Here is a philosophical-practical construal of dignity that is deeply […]| conversant faith
“What a belch is to the rumbling stomach, that’s what praise is to the satisfied heart.” -Augustine1 Leave it to patristic and medieval commentators to go to town when the Vulgate…| conversant faith
This post is an attempt to think through Witness Lee’s interpretation of Romans 1:3-4. These verses function as Paul’s opening statement about the gospel in his letter to the Romans. Paul says that the gospel concerns God’s Son, who came out of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was designated [ὁρίζω] the […]| conversant faith
The following reprints a book review that I wrote for Theophron: Journal of Christian Studies in 2022. Ruden, Sarah. The Gospels: A New Translation. New York: Modern Library, 2021. pp. lxviii, 333. $28.00 (hardcover). ISBN 978-0-3995-9294-2. Sarah Ruden joins the growing ranks of Bible translators seeking to free the ancient text from theological accretions and […]| conversant faith
John Calvin on the experiential christocentricism of the apostles’ creed, exhibiting the later Reformation solus Christus: “Our whole salvation and all its parts are comprehended in Chr…| conversant faith
This is a paper I wrote for a class on Jonathan Edwards at Princeton Theological Seminary. A PDF of the paper is here, complete with footnotes, which I didn’t take the time to manually input in the post below. I. Introduction A logical connection exists between Jonathan Edwards’ understanding of the Trinity, creation, salvation, and a […]| conversant faith
This is a paper I wrote for a class on Jonathan Edwards at Princeton Theological Seminary. A PDF of the paper is here, complete with footnotes, which I didn’t take the time to manually input in the post below. I. Introduction A striking motif in a number of Jonathan Edwards’ central works is human beings’ […]| conversant faith
Scripture: Luke 8:26-39 The longest, most detailed, and most vivid miracle story in the Gospels is about an exorcism.[1] Us moderns are always a bit embarrassed by this sort of stuff. Our enlightened, materialistic worldview rules out supernatural occurrences from the get-go. We know, of course, that, really, beneath all that we can’t currently account […]| conversant faith
1. Palm branches above me rise and sway, moved by an imperceptible breeze, lifting their long arms to heaven like Pentecostal ministers. They rustle like rain sticks. Flecks of white flash across the sea— rock doves glide between the white caps. Seven shades of blue spread from the horizon, above and below, like an endless […]| conversant faith
Witness Lee’s life is like his ministry—epic, inspiring, and vast. His work of preaching, teaching, and establishing churches spanned multiple continents, just like his printed works span multiple bookshelves. His collected works, not including his biblical commentaries, include 138 volumes. But while many have a passing acquaintance with his name or a single book of his, […]| conversant faith
Over the last few decades there has been growing interest across many theological traditions in an ancient understanding of salvation called deification. This broad resurgence is fueled in part by a number of concentrated studies seeking to correct long-standing opinions that have clouded certain theological luminaries of the past. David Vincent Meconi’s groundbreaking study on […]| conversant faith
I just finished Rebecca McLaughlin’s incredible new book Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion. It is a rigorous, compelling, and fresh defense of…| conversant faith
