Christ’s Return: A Source of Christian Comfort (Ridderbos)

It's not hard to notice Paul's emphasis on the return of Christ. In his letters that we have in the NT, Paul often talks about Christ's return on the last day. It's one of the main themes of Paul's theology. Herman Ridderbos noted that two things stand out when Paul was writing about Christ's return…

Prophetic Language in the OT: Literal? (Bavinck)

Most readers of the OT are familiar with the prophetic texts that talk about a future temple, sacrifices, mount Zion, etc. Of course some Christians take these prophecies extremely literally. But is literal interpretation of these OT prophetic texts legitimate? Do these OT prophetic texts give us an eschatology of literalism? Herman Bavinck said not…

Symbolic Language in Apocalyptic Texts – OT/NT (Dodd)

Although I don't agree with every angle and aspect of this book, I am enjoying it: According to the Scriptures by C. H. Dodd (published in 1952). In this book Dodd argues that the NT authors used the OT to prove the truths about Jesus and his kingdom. There's more to the discussion, to be…

Judgment According to Works?? (Vos)

The Bible teaches that sinful people cannot earn salvation or contribute to their salvation.  Justification and eternal life are free gifts of God received by faith alone in Christ alone (Rom 4:1-8, Gal. 2:15-16, Eph 2:8, etc.).  Or as the Heidelberg Catechism says, the good we do can't make us right or help make us…

How Paul Read and Interpreted Isaiah (Hays)

Richard Hays’ book, The Conversation of the Imagination, is a helpful resource for insight into how the apostle Paul viewed the Old Testament Scriptures. This book is a collection of essays that Hays wrote and published elsewhere; it’s nice to have it in one volume. There are ten chapters that cover topics like the role…