Historical Theology

Resumen: En una entrevista con Antonio Spadaro para La Civiltà Cattolica de agosto de 2013, el papa Francisco mencionó a Michel de Certeau como "uno de los pensadores contemporáneos" que más le gustaban. Estas declaraciones suscitaron, además de una inédita ola de recepción de la obra del autor francés en el ámbito confesional cristiano, una polémica en torno a qué implicaciones tendría esta referencia. Este trabajo, realizado en el marco de una investigación doctoral sobre la recepción de la obra de Michel de Certeau en Argentina, busca pro blematizar el alcance de esta afirmación, sin pretender llegar a una conclusión fehaciente, sino más bien aprovechando la problemática para explorar los derroteros de la historia intelectual católica desde mediados del siglo XX hasta esta parte. Para hacerlo, se desarrollarán, desde la socio-historia de los textos y los intelectuales, tres cuestiones principales: en primer lugar, una aproximación a la biblioteca personal dejada en Buenos Aires por el entonces cardenal Jorge Mario Bergoglio a la hora de la elección papal en 2013; en segundo lugar, un análisis de la traducción y circulación de la obra de Michel de Certeau en Argentina (en particular del único libro suyo publicado por una editorial católica argentina, en 2015, El extranjero o la unión en la diferencia) y, finalmente, una lectura de los usos de la obra certaliana por parte de Francisco durante su pontificado. Palabras clave: Michel de Certeau; papa Francisco; historia intelectual; cristiandad; epistemología

The "Silent Savior Fallacy" is the mistaken idea that if Jesus did not explicitly mention a sin in the Gospels, then that sin cannot be considered sinful. This article argues that such reasoning is flawed because it misunderstands how the Gospels function, how Jesus relates to the Old Testament, and how Scripture presents moral truth as a whole. It shows that the issue is not only sexual immorality, but a broader attitude toward all sin, including pride, greed, hypocrisy, lust, anger, deceit, and selfrighteousness. By reading Jesus in his proper Jewish and biblical context, the article demonstrates that His silence on a specific issue does not imply approval. Instead, Jesus consistently affirms God's moral order, exposes sin at the level of the heart, and calls all people to repentance, obedience, and faith.

The article develops the concept of Existential Non-Absorption as a counter-form to Existential Alignment, as described in the preceding article. While Existential Alignment describes how human self-interpretation can be connected to AI-supported metastructures and prepared plausibilities, Existential Non-Absorption asks about the possibility

The motif of going eastward appears repeatedly in both the primeval and patriarchal narratives of Genesis. Close attention to this motif reveals a key structure of these narratives: the repeated narrowing of the lineage which can carry forth God’s blessing. The appearance of קדם signals the moment at which one part of humanity, or of the patriarchal family, moves to the margins of the narrative and marks the refocusing of the narrative on the individual not associated with the word קדם. The קדם motif, though, presents a multi-faceted interpretive conundrum: First, why is the east, a place associated with Eden, the place to which those who do not remain at the center of the narrative’s concern depart? The generation of Jacob and Esau, the last in which someone in Genesis goes eastward, presents additional anomalies: It is Jacob, the brother who will carry forth the blessing, who goes to “the land of the sons of קדם,” and Jacob, for the first and only time in Genesis, returns from his journey to the east. And Esau’s subsequent departure, while described in terms that create every expectation that he will go to קדם, does not in fact include this word. This article analyzes the קדם motif in Genesis and offers solutions to the intriguing conundrum that attention to this motif discloses.

Orthodox Christian theology in general prides itself on bearing the mantle of patristic thought. Orthodox theological anthropology is no different, often drawing on Greek patristic sources in presenting its vision of the human being. Yet Orthodox anthropology can also broadly be categorized as personalist in ways that are not necessarily so clear in patristic texts. The interest in the concept of the person or hypostasis has brought with it challenges and criticisms from those who see this interest as unsupported by the sources of the tradition. One repeated criticism points to the apparent tension or even conflict between the categories of person and nature in Orthodox Christian personalism. This article offers a close reading of Maximus the Confessor’s understanding of natural law in relation to his understanding of human destiny as deification in order to offer a contribution to this debate. Maximus’s interests in natural law with a negative valence, a positive valence, and as something transcended by deification are looked at in turn, as well as the relationship between them. The case is made that Maximus offers a powerful means of retrieving a Christocentric vision of the natural law (and nature more broadly) for Orthodox Christian humanism without undermining or threatening—and arguably even enhancing—the achievements of modern Orthodox personalism.

Sample Narrative : It focuses on the ability of candidates to understand and use simple words and sentences. It is mainly aimed at beginners with preliminary listening and reading abilities. It focuses on listening and reading ability, as well as the corresponding topics, tasks, grammar and 300 words.

Tennent, Sr., and his sons, Gilbert, John, and William. The awakening became "great" and "general" with the itineration of the English evangelist George Whitefield in all thirteen colonies in 1738-40. Other revivalists followed his pattern of traveling from community to community, making itineracy one of the marks of the movement. As religious pluralism developed, denominations began to utilize revivalism as a means of recruiting new members and establishing new congregations. Many New England converts became Separate Baptists, some of whom engaged in vigorous evangelistic activity along the frontier of the southern colonies. Revivalism reached another high tide in the Second Great Awakening or Great Revival which began in the mid-1790s in Eastern cities as a response of the churches to the influence of French rationalism. The revival spread to the Kentucky-Tennessee frontier where it was accompanied by striking physical manifestations-"jerking," barking, and fainting. The camp meeting, which developed spontaneously under frontier conditions, was soon consciously perpetuated as a revival technique. Revivalism turned American churches outward toward the frontier and increased their membership. It stimulated the development of charitable institutions-schools, orphanages, and Indian missions. It changed the concept of the ministry as soul-winning became the minister's chief function. In the churches themselves it led to greater informality and emotional expression in the worship service. Indeed, revivalism changed the very nature of religious life in America, making it more subjective and individualistic. *Sem C. Sutter is a doctoral candidate in church history at the University of Chicago.

Following an invitation to offer comments and contribute to the ongoing scholarly discussion, this paper provides a prepared response to the discussion of William Griffin III's paper “Why Systems Theory Cannot Explain Morality and Moral Theory Cannot Explain Systems”. In this spirit, the analysis that follows offers a collegial, academically grounded evaluation that includes thoughtful critique, alternative interpretations, and cross disciplinary perspectives, all while maintaining a constructive orientation toward the development of the main topic of research.

Much work has been done on elucidating/defending how the doctrine of the Trinity is coherent (and not incoherent). However, most of the work or defense comes with assumptions that proponents and defenders of the Trinity often aren't aware of. For example, it is often assumed that God the Father explains or begets the existence of God the Son in a causal sense. To be sure, this isn't a temporal notion or anything like a human father/son; instead, it is eternal. On the other hand, it's not clear why it is often assumed that the explanation must be causal instead of non-causal. 1 Here, I want to give my thoughts or model, but (of course) my model isn't completely original. The model that I want to propose in this paper is a non-causal model of the Trinity. I will then utilize the model in response to the classical logical argument against the Trinity. Finally, I will response to potential worries or concerns for my model. The Model Here, I am invoking a non-causal explanation for the Trinity. In other words, God the Father non-causally explains the existence of God the Son. 2 3 God the Father begets the Son, and the Son is begotten by the Father. To understand what a 'non-causal explanation' is, it will be helpful to look at an example. For instance, the law of gravity non-causally explains why the apple falls from the tree. To be sure, a non-causal explanation is a broad notion that can be filled

This paper addresses the historical and scriptural debate surrounding the doctrine of the Eucharist, specifically focusing on the nature of Christ's presence in the sacramental elements. Utilizing a three-fold categorization, the author surveys the Memorialist view, which treats the elements as a mental act of recollection ; the Lutheran and Roman Catholic positions, which assert an objective, physical reception of Christ's body and blood by the mouth ; and the Reformed view, which posits that Christ's whole person is spiritually present and received strictly through faith. 
The author argues for the Reformed perspective, demonstrating that Christ's humanity and divinity are objectively offered alongside the bread and wine, acting as instruments of grace through the power of the Holy Spirit. By evaluating the logical and biblical challenges of corporeal eating , the paper establishes that Christ and the salvific benefits of his sacrifice cannot be separated. Finally, the paper details the vital implications of this doctrine for the practical Christian life, showing how the Eucharistic meal dynamically seals the believer's union with Christ , deepens unity within the church body , and provides necessary spiritual nourishment for the Christian journey.

This short paper considers Jay Sklar’s arguments against the Andrew Rillera thesis that the Old Testament sacrificial system was to cleanse the sanctuary that had been polluted by the impurity of its worshippers, and the decontamination agent was blood not death — thus Jesus’s death is to be understood in light of that.

This book by Andrew Rillera challenges the understanding that Jesus's death on the cross made 'substitutionary atonement' for the sins of the people because the OT sacrificial system was to cleanse the sanctuary that had been polluted by the impurity of its worshippers, and the decontamination agent was blood not death-thus Jesus's death is to be understood in light of that.

This paper presents a Scripture-only, historically informed reassessment of the Trinity. It does not reject the Trinity but returns to the Bible's own language and categories to recover a model that is older, simpler, and more faithful to the biblical text than the post-Nicene doctrine of three co-equal, co-eternal persons sharing one divine essence. The paper is neither anti-Trinitarian nor a concession to Islam or Unitarianism. It affirms the full deity of Christ, the pre-existence of the Word, and the personhood of the Spirit. It challenges only the unbiblical philosophical additions, eternal generation, three hypostases, one ousia, that entered Christianity through Greek metaphysics and imperial councils.

El presente apéndice propone que el acto creativo divino en el corpus canónico constituye la distinción ontológica primaria —Creador frente a criatura— desde la cual emergen inductivamente las categorías fundamentales del ser creado: historicidad, temporalidad, relacionalidad, personalidad, contingencia y teleología. Mediante una lectura inductiva canónica —derivada metodológicamente del principio de Sola Scriptura y desarrollada en el contexto de la teología adventista por Fernando Canale—, se argumenta que esta distinción es irreductible a las categorías sustancialistas de la metafísica greco-occidental, las cuales privilegian la esencia, la permanencia y la atemporalidad como principios explicativos primarios de la realidad. El análisis identifica cuatro nodos ontológicos vertebrales en el corpus bíblico —Génesis 1:1, Isaías 45:18, Colosenses 1:16–17 y Apocalipsis 21:3— y argumenta que la teleología inscrita en el acto creador apunta constitutivamente hacia la presencia divina. La tesis central es que la Escritura no articula solo una ontología de la creación, sino una ontología de la presencia fundada en la creación: la creación establece la distinción ontológica primaria; la presencia divina es su telos constitutivo, cuya manifestación histórica progresiva culmina en la nueva creación de Apocalipsis 21–22.
Palabras clave: creación, ontología bíblica, distinción Creador-criatura, ontología histórico-relacional, ontología de la presencia, Santuario, hermenéutica canónica.

This article proposes that the divine creative act in the canonical corpus constitutes the primary ontological distinction—Creator versus creature—from which the fundamental categories of created being inductively emerge: historicity, temporality, relationality, personality, contingency, and teleology. Through a canonical inductive reading—methodologically grounded in the Sola Scriptura principle and developed within Adventist theology by Fernando Canale—the article argues that this distinction is irreducible to the substantialist categories of Greco-Western metaphysics, which privilege essence, permanence, and atemporality as primary explanatory principles of reality. The analysis identifies four vertebral ontological nodes in the biblical corpus—Genesis 1:1, Isaiah 45:18, Colossians 1:16–17, and Revelation 21:3—and argues that the teleology inscribed in the creative act points constitutively toward the divine presence. The central thesis is that Scripture does not merely articulate an ontology of creation, but an ontology of presence grounded in creation: creation establishes the primary ontological distinction; divine presence is its constitutive telos, whose progressive historical manifestation culminates in the new creation of Revelation 21–22.
Keywords: creation, biblical ontology, Creator-creature distinction, historical-relational ontology, ontology of presence, Sanctuary, canonical hermeneutics.

In the history of the Aksumite Kingdom, the reigns of Ezana and Kaleb can be described as the Golden Age. The names of these two monarchs are profoundly illustrious. The era of Ezana represents a landmark in Ethiopian history; not only did Christianity become the official state religion, but it was also during this period that a complete vocalized (voweled) script first appeared, and the king’s military victories and territorial expansions were systematically preserved in written inscriptions. In contrast, the existence of most kings prior to Ezana is known primarily through the coins they minted. While it is difficult to assume that a coin-minting state left no written records, those documents have either perished over time or remain hidden, yet to be discovered.
Emperor Kaleb’s trans-maritime expedition to rescue persecuted Christians was a monumental feat that led to his international veneration as a saint. The sheer magnitude of the forces he mobilized for this campaign, combined with his ability to cross the sea and restore peace within a short period, vividly demonstrates the formidable power and global prominence of the Aksumite Empire at that time.

This paper examines the theological tension between Old Testament accounts of divine judgment killing—specifically the events of Numbers 31—and the nonviolent, restorative ethic established by Jesus Christ in the New Testament. By analyzing the ontological weight of sin and the necessity of spiritual purging in the Old Covenant, the study frames early Israelite warfare as unique, localized historical judgments directed against severe spiritual corruption rather than prescriptive rules of engagement. The paper utilizes the hermeneutical framework of "progressive revelation" to demonstrate how God accommodated the harsh realities of ancient Near Eastern cultures while gradually unveiling a higher ethical standard that culminated in the person of Jesus, who replaced physical purging with spiritual deliverance. Additionally, a comparative analysis is drawn between Christian theology and Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). The study argues that whereas Islamic tradition often treats the Prophet Muhammad’s military actions as normative, transhistorical models (sunnah), Christian theology views Old Testament battles as unrepeatable, temporary events. The paper concludes that the definitive interpretive key for the biblical narrative is the Cross, asserting that God's ultimate character is most fully revealed by absorbing worldly violence rather than inflicting it.

Prophet Muhammad SAW is the symbol of the most perfect human, through the beauty of his morals, politeness and manners, straight behavior, cleanliness of nature, breadth of life experience, started trading when he was a child, went to Sham (Palestine) to trade on a winter trip, by traveling and that trade gives him the experience of human things, participates with them in real life, broadens his horizons.

Prophet Muhammad SAW was born in Mecca in the year 570 and died in Medina on June 8, 632. He was the last Muslim prophet and messenger. The year of the Prophet Muhammad's birth is called the year of the elephant because 50 days before he was born, Abraha al-Habsy, the governor of the Habsy kingdom (Ethiopia) in Yemen, came with his army of 60,000 personnel riding elephants aiming to destroy the Kaaba. Abraha was very angry because the large church (al-Qulles) which she had built in Shan'a, the capital of Yemen, had its walls covered with dirt by someone from Bani Kinanah. Abraha built the church because she saw the Arabs every year flocking to Mecca to perform the pilgrimage there. However, Abraha's efforts failed because she and her entire army were destroyed by Allah. By bringing the bird of Ababil who brought stones from hell and stoned them to death. The whole army immediately lay down with the elephants, while Abraha returned to Yemen and soon died. This incident is mentioned in Surah al-Fil (105) verses 1-5. Prophet Muhammad began to spread the teachings of Islam to all mankind and inherited an Islamic government. Both prophets of Muhammad supported monotheistic teachings emphasizing God brought by the early prophets and apostles. As the last prophet, the journey of Prophet Muhammad cannot be separated from efforts to worship Allah SWT for all mankind and show the straight path of this world and events to come. Like the Prophet before the year, Prophet Muhammad SAW received revelations and extraordinary miracles from Allah SWT. And it is the holy book of the Koran which is a guide for Muslims.

Baptism is unquestionably one of the most universal marks of a Christian across almost all major Christian denominations. Yet there is not a universally accepted standard among all groups. Different groups hold different positions. These are derived from differing theological views, and each produces differing theological implications. This paper will focus on answering the following: 1) What is Baptism? 2) Who should Baptism be administered to? and 3) How should Baptism be administered? Having carefully compared the major positions around these three questions, it will be argued that Baptism is an ordinance given by God, whereupon a person enters the universal and local church, this being a symbolic act portraying and unifying the participating individual with Christ's death, burial and resurrection, whereby Christ has removed their sins (1 Cor. 15:3-4). It is to be preceded by a profession of faith (Acts 2:38), and is administered through the complete immersion (Acts 8:38-39) of the subject being baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). Part of answering this question is asking, "What does baptism accomplish?" The answer to this is disputed. There are three major positions on the answer to this question. i) The first position is that baptism is actually a means whereby grace is applied to the subject being baptized. Baptism being essential to salvation. (Mark 16:16) ii) The second position holds that baptism is the New Testament (NT) replacement of the Old Testament (OT) circumcision. In this Hodge, Charles. "Systematic Theology: Abridged Edition.

This thesis argues that ḥērem in 1 Samuel 15 is not a relic of ancient warfare but a sacred act of covenantal devotion that reveals the tension between divine holiness, human obedience, and Israel's identity as a people set apart for YHWH. Through historical, philological, narrative, and canonical analysis, the study demonstrates that ḥērem functions as a ritualized declaration of divine sovereignty in which destruction becomes consecration and obedience becomes worship. Saul's partial compliance is therefore not strategic misjudgment but a rupture in covenant fidelity that exposes the costliness of holiness and the danger of selective obedience. Yet the canon refuses to let ḥērem stand alone, as Jeremiah's vision of divine responsiveness, Jonah's mercy toward enemies, and the lament of Psalm 137 complicate and enrich the theological landscape by revealing a God whose justice and compassion remain dynamically intertwined. Together, these texts frame ḥērem as a theological crucible that demands reverent wrestling, interpretive humility, and canonical imagination. The study concludes that ḥērem discloses a God whose holiness is uncompromising, whose mercy is steadfast, and whose covenant faithfulness summons His people to obedience marked by discernment, awe, and trust.

The Context Background: Author The author of 1 Timothy is stated in the opening word. Viewing this as the inspired, inerrant record of God's grace written by the Holy Spirit himself through men (2 Pet 1:21), we have no reason to doubt that Paul wrote 1 Timothy. Given the world we live in, though, there certainly are those who call Pauline authorship into question. Without going into all the various theories and options that historical criticism presents (including such ones as 1 Clement did not borrow from the Pastoral epistles, but it actually happened the other way around! 1 It is enough to say that, in addition to God's own witness, the early church believed Paul to be the author, and it has never been successfully proven that he wasn't. Polycarp of Smyrna, the disciple of St. John, quotes 1-2 Timothy at a very early date, and Justin Martyr does as well in the mid-100's A.D. 2 Knight's scholarly commentary effectively summarizes various opinions on Pauline authorship. 3 1 G. W. Knight, The Pastoral Epistles (New International Greek Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992), 13. First Clement is believed by many scholars to have been written in the mid-90's, around the same time as Revelation. 2 K.

The aim of the book is to find an answer to the question of whether the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (ECCB) in the years 1968–1989 can be considered “free” in any way. This work describes the life of the ECCB in that period and the ways of the freedom und unfreedom the ECCB enjoyed and formed. Thereby, the research is based on the careful analysis of documents from church and state archives and the results of ten author-led biographical interviews with then active pastors. Combining these methods and sources, the book offers an innovative view on the ECCB in the period and provides new, deeper, and more personal insights into the processes of the time. The first four chronological chapters describe the situation and development of the ECCB in the course of the socio-political liberalisation during the Prague Spring and during the years after the Warsaw Pact troops’ invasion of Czechoslovakia, when the so-called “normalisation” began. The fifth chapter presents the main strategies that the church developed in reaction to the restriction of its freedom. The sixth chapter presents the perspective of two ministers of the ECCB on their contacts with the representatives of the state authorities in the form of a case study. An insight in the internal life of the church and the forms of the church work is then provided in the first part of chapter seven. Subsequently, its second, interpretative part offers an interpretation of the sources of the ECCB’s freedom and an interpretation of the character of the church community. The eighth chapter continues with the chronological description of the church’s reaction to developments of the second half of the eighties, specifically the change of the political system, and outlines the paths of the church and its ministers thereafter. The attachment contains biographical portraits of the ten interviewed ministers.

Uno de los comentarios sobre el libro de J. I. Packer (1926Packer ( -2020) ) dice: "Podemos conocer a Dios personalmente porque Dios desea que lo conozcamos." (Billy Graham) Conocer a Dios no es algo opcional, sino esencial para la plenitud del ser humano. Su seguridad radica en el carácter de Dios y en buscar su rostro. (Salmo 27:8b) Lo que comenzó como una serie de artículos sobre Dios para una publicación evangélica dio margen a este libro en su edición original de 1973. Cada vez que escribía algo se preguntaba qué sería lo siguiente. No es un tratado sobre Dios sino

በኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ፣ ባህል፣ እና ቋንቋ—በተለይ ከመግባቢያነት እና ከታሪክ አንፃር—የፖለቲካው ቁልፍ ማጠንጠኛ ከሆኑ ግማሽ ክፍለዘመን አስቆጠሩ። ዛሬ እነዚህ ጉዳዮች የየቤቱ መወያያ ከመሆን አልፈው የተራው ህብረተሰብን ህይወት ሲያመሰቃቅሉ ይስተዋላል። በመጽሐፍ ደረጃ ሳይቀር የሚወጡ ከሙያዊ ብስለት ይልቅ ስሜት እና ተረት የበዛባቸው በርካታ ስራዎችን ማየት የተለመደ ነው። ለእነዚህ ጽሑፎች መፍላት ከዚህ በፊት የተሰሩት በቂ ካለመሆናቸው በተጨማሪ አግባብነት ባለው እና አብዛኛውን ግዜ በሌለው ሁኔታ በወገንተኝነት በመፈረጃቸውም ጭምር ነው። አሁን ካለንበት የእውቀት ማነስ ቀውስ ለመውጣት በአንድ ሰው ላይ ከተመሰረተ ስራ ባሻገር የተለያዩ ባለሙያዎች በየግዜው እየተሳተፉ የሚያሻሽሉት፣ የሚያክሉበት፣ እና የሚለውጡት ቀጣይነት ያለው ተቋማዊ ስራ ማዘጋጀት ተገቢ ሆኖ ስላገኘንው ይህ መጽሐፍ ተዘጋጅቷል። መጽሐፉ ከመግቢያው ጋር አስራ ሰባት ምዕራፎችን ይዟል። ከእነዚህ ውስጥ አስሩ የምርምር መጣጥፎች ሲሆኑ፣ አንዱ መግቢያ እና የተቀሩት ስድስቱ በሙያቸው እጅግ የተከበሩ ምሁራን ከኤስቢኤስ ጋዜጠኛ ካሳሁን ሰቦቃ ጋር ያደረጓቸውን 16 ቃለመጠይቆችን የያዙ ናቸው። ይህ መጽሐፍ  የአንድ ትልቅ ቀጣይነት ያለው ፕሮጀክት አካል ሲሆን፣ የፕሮጀክቱ እቅድ በየግዜው (ቢቻል በየሁለት ዓመቱ) የሚታደስ በኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ፣ ባህል፣ እና ቋንቋ ላይ ሰፊ ዘመንን ያካተተ መሰረታዊ የመረጃ ምንጭ እንዲሰጥ የታለመ ነው።

Of all the figures in Scripture, few had a more intimate acquaintance with fear than David. He stood before Goliath when the rest of Israel ran. He spent years as a fugitive in the wilderness, hunted by a king who wanted him dead. He lived through the agony of his own son Absalom turning against him, seeking his life and his throne. David was not a man theorizing about fear from a position of safety. He wrote from the middle of it

This study examines Jeremiah 12:4 within the prophetic tradition to explore its relevance for contemporary ecological challenges in Nigeria, including deforestation, oil pollution, and land degradation. The biblical text portrays the land as mourning and vegetation withering in response to human wickedness, highlighting an ethical and theological link between human conduct and ecological well-being. While previous scholarship has extensively analyzed prophetic ecological imagery in general, limited attention has been given to applying Jeremiah 12:4 to the Nigerian context, where environmental crises are both acute and morally significant. This research seeks to fill this gap by exegeting the verse and interpreting its moral-ecological implications for Nigerian environmental stewardship. The study adopts a qualitative and interdisciplinary methodology, combining historical-critical, literarygrammatical, and theological analyses with eco-theological hermeneutics. It examines the ecological, social, and covenantal dimensions of the text, relating them to Nigeria's contemporary environmental realities. The scope is delimited to Jeremiah 12:4 within the prophetic tradition, while contextual references to environmental degradation in Nigeria illustrate practical implications. Findings reveal that prophetic lament in Jeremiah 12:4 provides a framework for understanding ecological crises as morally and theologically significant, emphasizing human responsibility toward creation. The study concludes that integrating prophetic wisdom into contemporary environmental ethics can guide sustainable practices, promote ecological accountability, and foster stewardship within faith communities. It recommends advocacy, reforestation,

The traditional list of Jerusalem bishops between the Hadrianic destruction (AD 135) and the Council of Nicaea (AD 325) consists of names without biographies, writings, or doctrines-an embarrassment long-recognized by ecclesiastical historians. This paper argues that the vacancy is not the result of lost documents but of deliberate erasure. This paper proposes that the Gentile bishops who governed Aelia Capitolina during those two centuries were neither orthodox in the Nicene sense nor precursors of the later Yahwist synthesis. They were custodians of the unalloyed Pauline gospel-functionally Marcionite-who possessed a canon that rejected the Old Testament and worshipped the Father of Jesus as wholly separate from Yahweh. The first of these bishops, Marcus, was the first Christian bishop in the world as Paul would have understood the term. From his purified see, Marcus commissioned Marcion of Sinope as his personal emissary to Rome, funding the mission with the accumulated treasury of the Jerusalem church (the famous 200,000 sesterces) in an attempt to unify true Christianity under the unalloyed gospel. The mission's failure triggered the Yahwist counter-offensive that produced the adulterated New Testament and the two-century campaign of demonization whose surviving texts-from Hegesippus's truncated episcopal list to Epiphanius's strategic omission of Jerusalem-are the forensic scars of a truth too dangerous to acknowledge.

“… some may attempt to solve this difficulty by alleging that Artaxerxes II was the king who reigned during the days of Ezra and Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem, while Artaxerxes I was the king mentioned prior to Darius’ reign (Ezra 4:7-23). This solution is unacceptable, however, since Artaxerxes II lived several years after the events recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah”.
Eric Lyons.

This essay appeared in The Catholic Servant (April 2026): 3. It was reprinted at Catholic World Report on April 3.  The essay addresses the accusations that a suffering Savior shows God's cruelty. After all, if it were not necessary for God's plan to include this suffering, why do it?

The differences in the teachings among Christian churches are explained by a combination of theological, historical, and sociological theories or concepts, ranging from disagreements over Scriptural authority to cultural and political factors. The core of these divisions often involves debates over how to interpret the Bible and whether tradition holds equal weight with Scripture. As a result of these differences, rebaptism has been a subject of ongoing debate in Christian theology, with most denominations holding that baptism is a one-time sacrament. Therefore, it was deemed necessary to undertake this study to examine the rebaptism debate among Christian Churches in Malawi. The study involved some selected Christian Churches, which provided 32 participants, including Pastors, Reverends, Bishops, Church Elders, Deacons, and the Laity. The study was underpinned by the Charismatic Authority theory and Organizational Institutionalism theory to examine the topic under study. The study employed a descriptive research design, guided by social constructivism. The findings reveal that Christian churches do not require rebaptism for individuals who have remained faithful to their initial immersion, even if they have been inactive for a time. If a person has been baptised by immersion elsewhere and held similar beliefs, they are usually accepted by "Profession of Faith" rather than rebaptism. The study further reveals that although the SDA Church recognises rebaptism, the Church discourages its casual or repeated use. Rebaptism is meant for rare cases of genuine reconversion, not as a routine response to spiritual struggles. Overuse risks weakening assurance, confusing doctrine, and fostering unhealthy dependence on ritual rather than ongoing faith and discipleship. Rebaptism works better when administered to those who have chosen to start walking in New Light. That is, rebaptism becomes valid for those who have received new understanding of biblical truth and feel compelled to signify their commitment to this deeper truth. Finally, rebaptism is considered appropriate if someone did not receive baptism by water immersion. 1. Introduction Rebaptism is one unique doctrine of the SDA church which, frankly, sets the church apart from others. According to the SDA church, the conditions that invalidates baptism are so exclusive that those who are rebaptized are as if they were never baptized. The English prefix 're' denotes something which is repeated. But in the SDA church the 're' before the word baptism indicates a person's condition (White, 2017). Saying it another way, it characterizes a person who has been baptized before and not denoting

The concept of the “remnant” ( שְׁאְֵרִִֵית , šĕērît) emerged as a central social designation in the wake of Jerusalem’s destruction in 586 b.c.e. and continued to serve as a reflection of Judean identity throughout the early Second Temple period. In this article, I explore the evolution of this term as it was applied to Judean/Yahwistic communities in various locations—survivors in the land, exiles, and returnees under Persian rule. I argue that the remnant was not a static category but a flexible theological and communal construct, shaped by shifting historical realities and imperial contexts. The Persian Empire’s administrative and ideological frameworks facilitated the persistence and transformation of the remnant across geographic and political boundaries, allowing each of these communities to reimagine itself as both a restored center and a dispersed yet faithful people. This is demonstrated through biblical texts, archaeological surveys, and imperial administrative records

After the successive Origenist controversies that took place from the late fourth to the sixth century CE, the Greek writings of Evagrius Ponticus were widely suppressed. However, his works continued to be actively transmitted in Syriac and Arabic. In Egypt, the manuscript collections at the Coptic Patriarchate, the Monastery of St. Macarius, and the Monastery of the Syrians in Wādī al-Naṭrūn show that Arabic translations of his writings continued to be copied and published into the modern period. In the late twentieth century, however, Evagriusʼ legacy became caught up in a long-running dispute between Pope Shenouda III (1923( -2012 CE) CE) and Matthew the Poor (1919( -2006 CE) CE), a prominent abbot and spiritual author associated with the Monastery of St. Macarius. In my book Coptic Christology in Practice ( ), I previously discussed their disagreement over the doctrine of deification. In this paper, I will document for the first time their starkly different opinions on Evagrius, showing how their dispute involved not only matters of monastic spiritual guidance but also claims related to Coptic nationalism. As a postscript, I will also consider a recent example from "neo-Copticˮ iconography as evidence for the contemporary reception of Evagrius in Egyptian Christian visual culture.

La imagen de Dios ha sido objeto de un intenso debate en el ámbito de la cultura judeocristiana. Este debate ha dado lugar a diversas interpretaciones a lo largo de la historia, lo cual se debe en gran medida a la tensión dialéctica presente en las Escrituras. En el presente artículo se llevará a cabo un análisis diacrónico de cómo la literatura rabínica y la ontología somática judía aclaran la tensión entre la posible corporeidad y la incorporeidad divina, principalmente en el contexto de Éxodo 33,11-23. Se analizará cómo la mística de la Merkabah y el Talmud interpretan las "espaldas" de Dios utilizando expresiones como los tefilín. Asimismo, se busca comprender cómo interpretaban las teofanías divinas pensadores judíos como Maimónides y teólogos como Orígenes, Agustín de Hipona y Juan Calvino. Por último, se observará cómo algunos pasajes del Nuevo Testamento pueden ayudar a interpretar la dialéctica entre poder ver o no a Dios a través de la revelación de Cristo, el Dios encarnado (Juan 1,14).

This article examines the theological conception of the Quran's createdness in the thought of Dirar b. `Amr (d. ca. 193/809). As one of the earliest Muslim theologians, Dirar held that the Quran is created and classified it not as a body (jism), but as an accident (`arad)-a non-substantial entity-formed by God upon the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawh al-Mahfuz). He formulated a distinctive doctrine of acquisition (iktisab), asserting that individuals acquire the Quran through reading, writing, and memorization, by means of an ability to act (al-istita`a). According to Dirar, God continuously recreates the Quran within the temporal world, distinguishing between a primordial Quran inscribed on the Lawh al-Mahfuz and a created Quran manifested in human activity. In his view, only `Uthman's recension reflects the primordial Quran. This study investigates a neglected dimension of Dirar's theology by analyzing his classification of the Quran as a created `arad and his conception of its temporal actualization through two agents: God as Creator (Khaliq) and the human as acquirer (muktasib).

This theological treatise examines the doctrine of the Overcomer as a unified biblical pattern extending from Genesis to Revelation. Rather than treating the Overcomer as a limited theme confined to Revelation 2–3, the work argues that Scripture presents the Overcomer as the believer who walks with God in covenant faithfulness, obedience, perseverance, and abiding presence. Beginning with Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, the prophets, the apostles, and the New Testament Ekklesia, the study traces a continuous line of faithful disciples who overcome the world, the flesh, false teaching, compromise, suffering, and spiritual warfare through communion with God. The treatise distinguishes salvation as a gift from inheritance as a reward, emphasizing that the promises reserved for the Overcomer are covenantal, relational, and eschatological. It further develops the role of the Ekklesia as Christ’s covenant assembly, the place where His presence, authority, discipline, and protection are manifested. Ultimately, the work concludes that the Overcomer’s destiny is resurrection, inheritance, reigning with Christ, and eternal communion with God. The doctrine of the Overcomer is therefore presented not as an isolated category, but as the central architecture of faithful discipleship and the consummated hope of those who walk with God until the end.

Der Beitrag untersucht, ob die klassische Henne-Ei-Frage möglicherweise auf einer verkürzten Vorstellung von Ursprung beruht. Ausgehend von einer strukturorientierten Lektüre der Genesis wird argumentiert, dass die biblische Schöpfungserzählung Ursprung nicht primär als biologischen oder kausalen Anfang beschreibt, sondern als Stiftung einer vorgängigen Differenzordnung. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird vorgeschlagen, die kulturell etablierte Henne-Ei-Frage neu zu lesen. Die auffällige Abwesenheit des Hahns eröffnet dabei eine religionsphilosophische Perspektive auf Ursprung, Relation und Generativität.

This article explores the deeper and richer meaning of the Tumbuka attribute Chiuta chinyetenyete, translated as the omnipresent God. It encourages exploration of the wealth underlying reflections on attributes of God in African languages for the purpose of forming a more contextual Christian faith. The attribute Chiuta chinyetenyete communicates God's omnipresence with a unique concept of effectual and gentle, life-giving, and supporting flow of God's presence. The church is discussed as a product of and an ingraft in the efficacious flow of the indiscriminate presence of God. The article also deliberates on the implications of believing in Chiuta chinyetenyete for the church, its formation, and the practice of faith. With data gathered through a qualitative literature review and observations, this article emphasises the need for the church to understand the flow of God and to flow in and with God's presence so that its formation and exercise of faith vivify his efficacious omnipresence in all contexts.

This article defends the nonlapsarian position against recent objections raised by T. Parker Haratine. It begins by recapping Haratine's proposed dilemma for nonlapsarianism (what he calls Allegorical Accounts), and then offers several lines of response. I argue that Haratine overlooks some aspects of nonlapsarianism that, when clarified, largely immunise it against his critique. In particular, employing the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic sinfulness and/or admitting other types of sin besides the "full-blown" variety allows the nonlapsarian to affirm jointly all the propositions Haratine takes to be inconsistent with a rejection of Original Sin. I thus conclude that nonlapsarianism is a more resilient theological option than Haratine supposes.

Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskan bahasa ngambeknya perempuan sebagai seni komunikasi menghukum laki-laki atau pasangannya. Komunikasi perempuan memang unik, menarik dan menantang, dan siapa yang bisa memahami bahasa ngambeknya perempuan, maka mereka akan memahami dunia. sebab perempuan adalah rahim kehidupan manusia, maka siapapun yang bisa memahami perempuan atau bahasa perempuan, maka mereka sudah menaklukan dunia. Namun sayangnya, sampai detik ini, tidak ada satupun laki-laki bisa melakukan itu, sehingga tidak pantas ada laki-laki yang dikatakan berhasil menaklukan dunia jika tidak bisa memahami bahasa perempuan.

Among the most persistent objections raised against the God of the Bible is one aimed at the moral content of the Old Testament. Critics point to divinely commanded warfare, the deaths of children, and the regulation of slavery, and conclude that the biblical God falls beneath the ethical standards of enlightened humanity. The implicit claim is striking: the creature has appointed itself judge over the Creator.
This essay does not attempt to make that difficulty disappear. There is genuine moral difficulty in these texts, and a Christian should not pretend otherwise. Anyone who reads of the killing of children and feels nothing has not understood what he is reading. The aim here is different — to show four things: first, that the critic’s posture of final moral judgment over God rests on shakier ground than it appears; second, that God does not merely demand submission but actually argues His own case, submitting His justice to scrutiny; third, that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New are not two characters but one — the one triune God, fully revealed in Jesus Christ; and fourth, that the deepest answer to the problem is not an argument at all, but the cross.

This capstone project reflects on the intellectual, spiritual, and theological development achieved throughout the Master of Theological Studies program. The study integrates insights from spirituality, biblical exegesis, hermeneutics, church history, Christian thought, and world religions to demonstrate how theological education shapes both personal faith and practical ministry. Drawing from coursework in MRS 622, MRS 633, foundational biblical studies, and advanced theological courses, the paper explores the formation of a spiritually grounded worldview that integrates faith, reason, ethics, and Christian discipleship.

The project examines the value of spiritual maturity as a lifelong process of transformation into the image of Christ through prayer, Scripture meditation, ethical living, and community engagement. It further analyzes the disciplined process of biblical exegesis using the social-historical-grammatical approach, emphasizing the importance of authorial intent, contextual interpretation, and responsible application of Scripture. Particular attention is given to Paul’s metaphor of the Armor of God in Ephesians 6:10–18, demonstrating how Old Testament imagery, Jewish literature, and interpretive assumptions influence theological understanding.

Additionally, the study investigates the historical development of Christian doctrine and church leadership, distinguishing between biblical teachings rooted in the original context of Scripture and later theological interpretations shaped by cultural and philosophical influences. The final section engages Islam as a major world religion, exploring its historical background, theological foundations, and contemporary global influence while presenting a respectful and theologically informed Christian response.

Overall, this capstone demonstrates that theological education is not merely the acquisition of academic knowledge but a transformative process that deepens spiritual maturity, strengthens biblical interpretation, and equips believers for faithful ministry and constructive engagement with diverse worldviews.

This paper examines the essential relationship between spiritual knowledge and godly love through an exegetical and pastoral analysis of 1 Corinthians 8, with supporting attention to Romans 14–15, Philippians 1:9–10, Hosea 4:6, and John 4:24. Using Paul’s discussion of meat offered to idols as the controlling case study, the paper argues that Christian ethical judgment cannot always be reduced to rigid categories of inherently right or wrong conduct, but must often account for circumstance, conscience, spiritual maturity, and the effect of one believer’s liberty upon another. The author contends that Paul does not depreciate knowledge itself, since biblical knowledge is necessary, liberating, and commanded; rather, Paul warns against knowledge severed from charity, which produces arrogance, harshness, and spiritual injury. Conversely, the paper also critiques love detached from doctrinal truth, arguing that sentimental or emotionally defined love may lead churches away from scriptural fidelity and spiritual discernment. The Corinthian context is further used to demonstrate that believers may retain serious religious misconceptions or inherited theological baggage after conversion, requiring patient instruction rather than condemnation. Ultimately, the paper concludes that knowledge and love are not mutually exclusive virtues but mutually necessary Christian obligations. Knowledge must be governed by love, and love must be guided by truth. When held together under the lordship and example of Jesus Christ, these virtues strengthen churches, edify weaker brethren, preserve doctrinal integrity, and glorify God.

In her comment on this research, Dr. Jenny Thorogood, the Manager of the Postgraduate Programmes of the Cambridge Theological Federation wrote:
This is a bold and ambitious project which chose to tackle the very
difficult and seldom discussed schism (and implicit lack of
communion) between the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the
Oriental Orthodox (so-called ‘non-Chalcedonian’) Churches. The
author ventures bravely into a territory where research sources are
scarce and passions run high – an area where one very rarely finds
balance and detachment. He however manages to defy that by
directing passion towards a rather disciplined exercise of
disassembling established preconceptions and interpretations
regarding the Chalcedon schism and even towards suggesting
possible ways towards unity.

I pray that this work may serve as a meaningful step forward on the path toward Orthodox Christian unity.

Ahdy Rofaeil, MD. D-Min.

Ci, którzy zaniedbują modlitwę, otoczeni są ciemnością szatana. Pokusy szeptane przez wroga wabią ich do grzechu, a wszystko to dzieje się dlatego, że nie korzystają z danego im przez Boga przywileju modlitwy. Dlaczego synowie i córki Boga tak niechętnie się modlą, chociaż modlitwa jest kluczem w dłoni wiary otwierającym niebiański skarbiec zawierający nieograniczone bogactwa Wszechmogącego? Bez nieustannej modlitwy i przykładnego czuwania jesteśmy narażeni na niebezpieczeństwo braku rozwagi i zejścia z właściwej drogi. Nasz wróg ciągle stara się zagrodzić nam drogę do tronu miłosierdzia, abyśmy nie mogli przez wiarę i szczere błaganie otrzymać łaski i mocy do przeciwstawienia się pokusie.. W modlitwie jest potężna moc. Nasz zaciekły wróg stale usiłuje odciągać nas od Boga. Odwołanie się do nieba przez najpokorniejszego ze świętych wzbudza w szatanie większe przerażenie, niż wszystkie uchwały parlamentów, dekrety rządów i decyzje przywódców tego świata…