Philemon: Signed, Sealed, and Delivered David Seal David Seal (PhD, Regent University) is adjunct professor at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He also teaches Bible and World Religions at Lansing Community College in Lansing, Michigan. David has recently written Prayer as Divine Experience in 4 Ezra and John’s Apocalypse: Emotions, Empathy, and Engagement with God (Hamilton, 2017) as well as contributed to a variety of publications including The Expository Times, Bibliotheca Sacra, and the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. Abstract: Given that the documents that later formed the canon of the New Testament were intended to be persuasive, it is a relatively safe assumption that the lector reading these texts would have added some vocal modulation and gestures at appropriate places during his recitation. Reading, acting, and rhetorical delivery were considered related skills. Following a summary of the nature of oral societies, a discussion of ancient public speaking, and an overview of the letter of Philemon, we will examine the letter for clues that indicate the lector may have made use of his voice and body to strengthen the message of this short letter. We will propose that the reading of Philemon was likely accompanied by hand and…

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This is My Beloved Son, Whom I Hate? A Critique of the Christus Odium Variant of Penal Substitution Joshua R. Farris & S. Mark Hamilton Joshua R. Farris is an Assistant Professor of Theology at Houston Baptist University. S. Mark Hamilton is a PhD candidate at the Free University of Amsterdam. Abstract: There is a subtle, almost imperceptible, theological metamorphosis underway and it is taking place not only in the academy and as a result, in the pulpit, it is taking place in the pew. For, in some evangelical quarters, it is no longer enough to simply believe that Christ absorbed the wrath of God as a penal substitute. Some have recently gone so far as to claim that, as a penal substitute, Christ became the object of the Father’s perfect hatred. In this paper, we take a closer look at this rather frightening aspect of this Christus Odium variant of penal substitution—something that we think, if gone unchecked, may well become the logical (better still, illogical) deposit of a new dogmatic inheritance for the American evangelical tradition as it pertains to substitutionary atonement. Key Words: retribution, rectoral, reparation, substitution, odius, satisfaction Share this on: FacebookTwitterLinkedin

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An Armored Household: Isaiah 59 as the Key to Ephesians 5:21-6:9 and 6:10-17 Holly J. Carey Holly J. Carey (Ph.D. University of Edinburgh) is Professor of Biblical Studies at Point University, West Point, Georgia. Abstract: The household codes of Ephesians 5:21-6:9 and the following “Armor of God” passage in Ephesians 6:10-17 have long been regarded as self-contained. Scholars have seen practically no relationship between these two portions of the letter, reading the latter as a new train of thought for the author. In this study, I argue that, contrary to these scholars, there is indeed a relationship of the household codes to Ephesians 6:10-17. It is demonstrated that this crucial connection is found in the author’s use of Isaiah 59. With sensitivity to this intertext present in the passage, it will be argued that (1) the original context of the Isaianic passage illuminates the meaning of the Divine Warrior motif in Ephesians, (2) the image of the clothing of the Christian in God’s armor is significant precisely because it transfers the work of the Divine Warrior to the follower of Christ, and (3) the message of justice in Isaiah 59 helps to account for and make sense of the redefined…

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Christocentric Letters: Christology in the Greetings of Ignatius’s Romans Jonathon Lookadoo Jonathon Lookadoo (Ph.D. University of Otago) is Assistant Professor at Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary, Seoul, South Korea. Abstract: This article examines the role of Jesus in the greetings of Ignatius of Antioch’s Letter to the Romans and the ways in which the Christology of the greeting foreshadows the presentation of Jesus in the letter body. After observing a trend in New Testament scholarship that sees lengthy greetings as precursors for what follows and a call in Ignatian scholarship to read Ignatius’s letters as individual compositions, the essay highlights the extraordinary length of Ignatius’s prescript. It argues that Jesus is depicted as Son, God, and law-giver. In each case, these terms prepare the way for how Jesus is portrayed in the body of the letter where he is described in relation to the Father, as the God who models faith and love, and as the one who speaks and teaches truly. These observations about Ignatius’s greeting to the Roman church suggest that the promising avenues of research noted in New Testament and Ignatian studies deserve further research in Ignatius’s letters and in relation to broader early Christian epistolary practice….

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Eschatological Emphases in 1 Thessalonians and Galatians: Distinct Argumentative Strategies Related to External Conflict and Audience Response John Anthony Dunne John Anthony Dunne (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is assistant professor of New Testament at Bethel Seminary (St. Paul, MN). Share this on: FacebookTwitterLinkedin

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The Care of Souls: John Calvin’s Shepherding Ministry Marcus J. Serven Marcus J. Serven (Th.M, D.Min., Covenant Theological Seminary) retired in 2016 after serving for nearly thirty-seven years in full-time pastoral ministry. Pastor Serven ministered at congregations within several Presbyterian denominations, and he is currently a member of the Presbytery of the Midwest (OPC). He wrote his doctoral dissertation, Seeking the Old Paths: Towards a Recovery of John Calvin’s Pastoral Theology Amongst Reformed and Presbyterian Pastors Today (2011), under the direction of noted church historian David B. Calhoun. Abstract: Many Christians today have distinct impressions of who John Calvin was, but most have never read a single line from his Institutes of the Christian Religion, or benefited from the careful exegesis found in his Commentaries on the Bible, or reflected upon a single salient point from one of his many published sermons. In brief, the reformer John Calvin (1509–1564) has been misinterpreted, misread, and misunderstood.1 He is, perhaps, best known for his views on the doctrines of election, predestination, and reprobation.2 He is also known for his pivotal role in the prosecution of the arch-heretic Michael Servetus (1511–1553) who rejected the Trinity and the deity of Jesus Christ.3 But none…

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Toward a Theology of Pastoral Care in a Missional Mode Andrew Zantingh Andrew Zantingh is a graduate of Calvin Theological Seminary and serves as Professor of Congregational Theology at Missional Training Center, Phoenix, and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church in Kitchener, Ontatrio, Canada. As a lead pastor, Andrew has helped shift two churches in Canada to a missional Pastoral Theology, and he now mentors and coaches other pastors to be a missional leaders and disciplers. Abstract: For close to twenty-five years, I have been learning how to care for the congregations God has called me to serve. In this respect, I am like most other professional pastors who paid significant money to be trained by professional professors to gain the necessary skills and techniques to do specialized care in a congregational setting. In addition to being a pastor, I now also teach graduate level pastoral care courses for pastors. The following paper is my theological reflection on the task of training pastors to do pastoral care in a missional way. There are some significant problems with our current approach to pastoral theology. In this volume, Michael Goheen identifies three crucial assumptions that have negatively shaped pastoral theology’s historical growth…

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Pastoral Theology in a Missional Mode Michael W. Goheen Michael Goheen (Ph.D. Utrecht) is Professor and Director of Theological Education at Missional Training Center, Phoenix and professor of missional theology at Covenant Theological Seminary, St Louis, Missouri. Abstract: In this article I argue for the renewal of pastoral theology from a missional mode. This approach to pastoral theology offers rich resources addressing critical areas of contemporary concern. This article is more than just academic reflection. In fact, this reflects a curricular work in progress at Missional Training Center, Phoenix, Arizona—an extension site of Covenant Theological Seminary, St Louis, Missouri. For the past six years we have been attempting some creative approaches to theological education based on the rich insights from the 1960s—1980s offered by Western mission leaders and Southern hemisphere church leaders on theological education in a missional mode. I am especially indebted to the insights of Lesslie Newbigin, Harvie Conn, and David Bosch, and will draw primarily on their work in this article. I begin by briefly exposing the roots of this problematic view of pastoral theology. I then sketch the missional turn in the 20th century and note its considerable impact beginning with ecclesiology, and then on theology…

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Pastor-Scholar: The Pastor Theologian and Scholarship Douglas Estes Douglas Estes (PhD, University of Nottingham) is Assistant Professor of New Testament and Practical Theology and director of the DMin Program at South University in Columbia, South Carolina. Prior to this appointment, he served as a pastor for 16 years. He has written or edited seven books, including Questions and Rhetoric in the Greek New Testament (Zondervan, 2017) and How John Works (SBL Press, 2016), as well as contributed to a variety of publications including Bible Study Magazine and Christianity Today. He is the editor of Didaktikos: Journal of Theological Education (Lexham). Abstract: There is a critical need today for pastor-scholars to serve the Church and to advance theological knowledge. The pastor who is a scholar will utilize the format of the written word to dialogue with an important part of modern society—scholars and educated readers—through the form of scholarly discourse. Though the pastor-scholar is not a common calling, once one embraces this calling, there are several essential characteristics that can positively impact the pastor-scholar’s profession and standing. Key Words: pastor-scholar, pastor theologian, ecclesial theologian, scholarship, academics, writing, Augustine, Jonathan Edwards Share this on: FacebookTwitterLinkedin

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Light from the Third Great Awakening: Harold Ockenga and the Call to Future Pastor-Theologians Owen Strachan Owen Strachan (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School), is associate professor of Christian Theology and director of the Center for Public Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of The Pastor as Public Theologian (with Kevin Vanhoozer, Baker Academic) and Awakening the Evangelical Mind (Zondervan Academic). Abstract: Something remarkable transpired in the mid-twentieth century. Just as the First Great Awakening reset the ecclesiastical paradigm along gospel-demarcated lines in the 1700s, and just as the Second Great Awakening redrew the Protestant map through the explosion of upstart groups like the Baptists and Methodists, so the Third Great Awakening of the neo-evangelical years fundamentally recalibrated and repositioned evangelicalism for unprecedented expansion and activity. Many individuals contributed to this galaxy-formation. Upon close reflection, however, Harold Ockenga—with Billy Graham and Carl Henry—formed the three horsemen of the Neo-Evangelical Resurgence. It is the purpose of this article to first explore Ockenga’s significance for the current day, as the twenty-first century church’s experience mirrors that of the neo-evangelicals some 60–70 years ago. Ockenga offers us an example of a richly theological pastorate, and a pulpit that majored in…

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