Selected Reading

I read (or watched or heard) these recently and recommend them to you.

Scripture

Did the Church Decide Which Books Made It Into the Bible? 
Michael Kruger explains the Protestant view of the canon using an analogy from ordinary life.

Bible 

The Whole Bible in 12 Verses
Andrew Wilson chose 12 verses to summarize what the Bible teaches. 

Theology

Justification and Imputed Righteousness
Two more excellent five-minute explanations from Ligonier’s Simply Put podcast. 

Church History

The Messy-yet-Instructive Culture Surrounding the Canons of Dort
“They cared about their theology so much. There’s a story even in the Synod of Dort when one particular delegate was expressing himself—perhaps not very well—and was showing some Arminian sympathies and one of the leading delegates challenged him to a duel on the spot.”

According to Kevin DeYoung, there’s something we can learn from this bit of history. 

English

“Run” Is the Most Complex Word in the English Language
But it hasn’t always been.

Theological Term of the Week: Cataphatic Theology

 

cataphatic theology
A method of describing God by saying what he is; a positive affirmation of God. (For example: God is love. God is holy.)1

• From None Greater by Matthew Barrett:

Cataphatic theology is affirmative by design, occuring whenever we assert what God is. Nevertheless, as long as God-talk remains analogical, our cataphatic excitement must be tamed the wisdom of its older sister, apophatic theology, which describes God by what he is not.  …

All in all, there is a balance to be struck. We must carefully balance the discontinuity, lest we strip God of his infinitude and think that the image is the same as that which it images.2

• From The Christian Faith by Michael Horton:

[T]he communicable attributes are typically identified by the way of eminence (via eminentiae), by highlighting attributes in which creatures share analogically but in a qualitatively inferior manner, often identified by the “omni-” prefix (for example, omnipotent, omniscient).  …  Refusing to be an idolatrous projection of our own ideas of perfecion, God infinitely transcends all comparisons. Nevertheless, out of love for his creatures, God condescends to our finite capacity by selecting analogies that are appropriate but nevertheless fall short of his majesty.3

Learn more:

1. Theopedia: Cataphatic Theology

Related terms:

• apophatic theology
• communicable attributes
• holiness
• love
• omnipotence
• omniscience

Filed under God’s Nature and His Work

1From None Greater, page 248.

2 From None Greater, page 37-38.

3 From The Christian Faith, page 225.

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Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button will take you to an alphabetical list of all the previous theological terms.

Sunday's Hymn: Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart

Rejoice, ye pure in heart,
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing:
Your festal banner wave on high,
The cross of Christ your King.

Rejoice, rejoice,
Rejoice, give thanks and sing.

Bright youth and snow-crowned age,
Strong men and maidens meek,
Raise high your free, exulting song,
God’s wondrous praises speak.

With all the angel choirs,
With all the saints on earth,
Pour out the strains of joy and bliss,
True rapture, noblest mirth!

Yes, on through life’s long path,
Still chanting as ye go;
From youth to age, by night and day,
In gladness and in woe.

At last the march shall end,
The wearied ones shall rest,
The pilgrims find their Father’s house,
Jerusalem the blest.

Then on, ye pure in heart,
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing;
Your glorious banner wave on high,
The cross of Christ your King.

—Edward H. Plumptre

 Other hymns, worship songs, or quotes for this Sunday:

• Preparing to Hear God’s Word at The Outspoken Tulip
• I Sought the Lord, and Afterward I Knew at The Happy Wonderer
• Wasted years restored at Tried With Fire
• Lord’s Day 20, 2019 at The Thirsty Theologian