Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

What If Forgiveness Were Unthinkable?, James K.A. Smith

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Review of Paul Kahn's memoir Testimony.

2021 Denominational Survey Results, Calvin University

CRCNA Denominational Survey Results

As part of the denominational ministry plan, Our Journey 2025, the CRCNA has contracted with Calvin College’s Social Research Center to administer a denominational survey every year. The results from the 2021 survey have now been compiled.

All CRC-affiliated adults and older youth are welcome to respond to this survey every year as they are led. In order to ensure a healthy number of responses to the survey every year, however, CRC leaders have randomly assigned every CRC church to one of five “cohorts.” Each cohort includes about 20 percent of all active congregations, and each congregation will be …

Sin In Christian Thought, Kevin Timpe

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Calvin Theological Journal (Vol 56 No 1 - April 2021), Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Journal

From the Editor: Karin Maag - 9 / Articles: Church and State in the Swiss Reformation by Jordan J. Ballor - 11 / “Unto the Fullness of Christ”: Organism and Dogma in James Orr by Todd Statham - 37 / Body and Soul: Baptismal Solidarity at a Funeral by Laura de Jong - 67 / Sermon: “Be Filled with the Spirit!”—A Sermon on Ephesians 5:15–21 by Denise L. Posie - 87 / Short Study: Sins of Omission: An Ethical Analysis by Gregory Mellema - 93 / Book Reviews - Scripture and Interpretation: Bauckham, Richard, Who Is God? Key Moments …

I'M A Philosopher. We Can't Think Our Way Out Of This Mess. (The Intelligence Of Love), James K.A. Smith

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

A Reexamination Of Deborah As Prophet And Judge, Brandy Scritchfield

CTS Master of Theology (ThM) Theses

This study aims to set aside gender concerns related to Deborah and the interpretation of Judges 4–5 in order to determine if a clearer portrait emerges of Deborah as a prophet, a judge, or both without gender issues obscuring the picture. Chapter 1 provides a representative summary of Deborah’s interpretive history, which establishes how gender has been historically and incorrectly used as the primary interpretive key for understanding Deborah and other key parts of Judg 4–5. Chapter 2 discusses Deborah’s role as a judge and determines the text supports identifying her with this title, and chapter 3 does the same …

One In The Spirit: An Exploration Of And Movement Toward The Theology Behind Acceptance Of, Affirmation Of, And Advocacy For Transgender People In The Church, Jo Newton

Beets Paper Contest

No abstract provided.

The Calvin Forum: Summer 2021, Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Seminary Forum (2002- )

CONTENTS - Vol. 28. No. 2, SUMMER 2021

Main Features: 3 - 25 years & Counting!

4 - Women-In-Office: What is the CRCNA position, how did we get here, and what does it mean?

8 - Partners in the Gospel

12 - Twenty-Five Years on: Just look at what God has done!!

18- My Calling

22- Following step by step

26- Moments in ministry formation 30- Songs of Redemption

Calvin Seminary News:32 - New Books

34- Distinguished Alumni

Politics Under Noah's Rainbow: David Vandrunen's Contribution To Reformed Political Theology, Matthew J. Tuininga

CTS Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Gregory The Great On The Balance Of The Christian Life Of The Clergy, Isaias D'Oleo Ochoa

CTS Student Publications and Creative Works

In Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Care the balance of the Christian life of the clergy not only permeates Gregory’s discussions in each major section of the book but also this theological motif served him to challenge the tendency of the clergy of his times to have a negative attitude towards the active life.

How Bavinck Responds To The Challenges Of The Theory Of Evolution: The Primacy Of Biblical Revelation, Isaias D'Oleo Ochoa

CTS Student Publications and Creative Works

In his discussion of evolution, Bavinck offers a modified theory of development, rooted not under a mechanistic and naturalistic worldview, as Darwin does, but under a “theistic-friendly” framework. This article argues that Bavinck’s discussion of evolution as a whole endorses a modified Aristotelian/ Thomistic framework in order to understand the theory of development, and thus overcomes the challenges raised by Darwin’s naturalistic worldview to biblical revelation.

“Emotion, Executive Dysfunction, And Agency: Can Emotional Disability Impair An Agent’S Likelihood Of Virtue?” In Faith & Virtue Formation: Christian Philosophy In Aid Of Becoming Good, Edited By Adam C. Pelser And W. Scott Cleveland, Kevin Timpe

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Calvin Theological Journal (Vol 55 No 2 - November 2020), Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Journal

From the Editor: Karin Maag - 233 / Articles: Zwingli, Erasmus, and the Roots of Reformed Sacramental Theology by Amy Nelson Burnett - 235 / Worship and Calvin’s Theology of the Body in His Anti-Nicodemite Writings by Bonnie Pattison - 255 / Ritual Seeking Rationale: Public Profession of Faith in the Christian Reformed Church by Ryan L. Faber - 277 / Sermon: “The End of Living” — A Sermon on Ecclesiastes 7:1–14 by Benjamin M. Oliveira - 309 / Short Study: Review Article: Contemporary Trends of Evangelical Missions Contextualization by Gil S. Suh - 315 / Calvin Bibliography 2020 - …

2020 Denominational Survey Results, Calvin University

CRCNA Denominational Survey Results

As part of the denominational ministry plan, Our Journey 2020, the CRCNA has contracted with Calvin College’s Social Research Center to administer a denominational survey every year. The results from the 2020 survey have now been compiled.

All CRC-affiliated adults and older youth are welcome to respond to this survey every year as they are led. In order to ensure a healthy number of responses to the survey every year, however, CRC leaders have randomly assigned every CRC church to one of five “cohorts.” Each cohort includes about 20 percent of all active congregations, and each congregation will be asked …

Calvin Theological Journal (Vol 55 No 1 - April 2020), Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Journal

From the Editor: Karin Maag - 9 / Articles: John Webster: A Reformed Theologian on Revelation by Richard Fraser Brash - 11 / Psalm 88: A Validation to Vent by William L. Harris III - 41 / The Loss and Renewal of Calvin’s Eucharistic Theology in Reformed Churches by Leonard J. Vander Zee - 67 / Sermon: “Created to Be Like God”—A Sermon on Ephesians 4:22–24 by Cornelius Plantinga Jr. - 95 / Short Studies: The Role of the Letter and the Lector in Early Christian Liturgy: A Few Examples from Ephesians 1 by David Seal - 101 / The …

Immigration Debates In America (Calvin Shorts), William Katerberg

Calvin Press

Immigration Debates in America begins in the 1830s and 1840s, with campaigns against Irish-Catholic immigration. Then it turns to anti-Chinese legislation (1870s-1920s), immigration policies about Europeans (1880s-1920s), the rejection of Jewish refugees from Hitler's Germany (1930s), the Mexican American border region, and Muslim immigration today.

Calvin Theological Seminary Forum: January 2020, Julius T. Medenblik, Amanda W. Benckhuysen, Jeffery A. D. Weima, Shannon Jammal-Hollemans

Calvin Theological Seminary Forum (2002- )

Main Features
3 - Hurting Churches & Hurting Pastors by Jul Medenblik
4 - Grief & Doubt in the Christian Life
8 - Christian Triumphalism by Gibson Danjuma
12 - Dementia & Wilderness by Mary L. Vanden Berg

Q&A: The Hurting Church
16 - Are Christians Allowed to Grieve the Death of a Loved One? by Jeffrey A. D. Weima
18 - Where Does Pastoral Care End? by Shannon Jammal - Hollemans
20 - What to Do When Church Leadership Feels Lonely? by Cecil Van Niejenhuis

Calvin Seminary News
22 - Calvin Seminary Names New Canadian Church Relations Liaison: Shawn …

Review Of Anca Gheaus, Gideon Calder, And Jurgen De Wispelaere, Eds., "The Routledge Handbook Of The Philosophy Of Childhood And Children", Kevin Timpe

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Immigrants, The Bible, And You (Calvin Shorts), Amanda W. Benckhuysen

Calvin Press

How does our Christian faith affect the way we think about immigration? What does the Bible say about immigrants that can help Christians respond faithfully to the current refugee and asylee crises? What does it look like to love our migrant neighbors? This book explores biblical perspectives on immigration in order to help Christians reflect theologically on issues related to immigration today.

Calvin Theological Journal (Vol 54 No 2 - November 2019), Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Journal

From the Editor: Karin Maag - 265 / Articles: The Story of God’s Covenants: A Biblical-Theological Investigation with Systematic Consequences by J. M. Burger - 267 / “I Have Sought to Move All to Pray … to This Good Father, by the Lord Jesus, in the Power of the Holy Spirit”: Farel, Caroli, Calvin, and Farel’s Trinitarian Prayers by Theodore G.Van Raalte - 301 / The Remonstrant Perspective and the Synod of Dordt by  Keith Stanglin - 325 / The World as Whodunit: Jan Woltjer and His Logo-Centric Philosophy in the Early Years of the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam by Rob …

If Not Stewards Of Creation, What Are We?, David Warners, Matthew Kuperus Heun

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

What if God didn’t place humans on earth to be stewards of creation? If not stewards, then what is our relationship to the nonhuman creation? These are the central questions addressed by Beyond Stewardship: New Approaches to Creation Care (The Calvin Press, 2019). Using voices and insights of 14 authors from diverse disciplines, this book is filled with fresh ideas and encouragement to help Christians better understand both their place in the world and the many relationships that embed them within God’s good but groaning creation.

2019 Denominational Survey Results, Calvin University

CRCNA Denominational Survey Results

As part of the denominational ministry plan, Our Journey 2020, the CRCNA has contracted with Calvin College’s Social Research Center to administer a denominational survey every year. The results from the 2019 survey have now been compiled.

All CRC-affiliated adults and older youth are welcome to respond to this survey every year as they are led. In order to ensure a healthy number of responses to the survey every year, however, CRC leaders have randomly assigned every CRC church to one of five “cohorts.” Each cohort includes about 20 percent of all active congregations, and each congregation will be asked …

Leading & The Kingdom Of God, Albert Boerema

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Leading in Christian schools is a deeply satisfying and challenging venture which has two central aspects—coordinating the activities of the organization and coordinating those activities in a specific direction. Leading, in general, often focuses on the first aspect, solving problems, taking care of all the large and small tasks that need to be attended to in schools. Often, those school leaders who take care of these details and run a tight ship are respected. But that second aspect, leading in a specific direction may be more fundamental. Because of the Christian nature of the school, that second aspect is seen …

Calvin Theological Journal (Vol 54 No 1 - April 2019), Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Journal

From the Editor: Karin Maag - 9 / Articles: From Glory to Glory: 2 Corinthians 3:18 in Biblical-Theological Perspective by Dane C. Ortlund - 11 / The Grammar of Revival: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards’s Teleological Language in Religious Affections (1746) by Obbie Tyler Todd - 35 / Religious Freedom and the Pancasila-Based State of Indonesia: A Neo-Calvinist Idea of Principled Pluralism by Benyamin F. Intan - 57 / Reprioritizing the Lord’s Supper among the Reformed by Jelmer Heeren and Maarten Wisse - 91 / Sermon: “A Sure Sign”—A Sermon on 1 Corinthians 11:17–34 and Exodus 24:1–11 by David Vroege …

Augustine’S Privation Theory Of Evil, Emily Jiang

Beets Paper Contest

No abstract provided.

Mathematics Of The Infinite God In The Works Of Nicholas Of Cusa, Lauren Henderson

Beets Paper Contest

The geometrical analyses of infinity exemplified in the work of Nicholas of Cusa can aid in understanding the complex nature of God’s attributes, specifically the perceived tension between his simplicity and his quality of encompassing and upholding all things.

The Oppressed And The Oppressors In The Fourth Gospel: A Postcolonial Reading, Joshua Polanski

Beets Paper Contest

No abstract provided.

Calvin Theological Seminary Forum: Winter 2019, Amanda W. Benckhuysen, Matthew Cooke, Mariano Avila, Margaret Mwenda

Calvin Theological Seminary Forum (2002- )

3 - God's Plan by Jul Medenblik

4 - Making Immigration Our Problem by Amanda W. Benckhuysen

8 - Trauma, Forced Migration, and the Role of the Church by Matthew Cooke

12 - Latino/ A Evangelical Immigrants in West Michigan by Mariano Avila

16 - Informing, Equipping, and Connecting African Immigrants in Grand Rapids, Michigan

19 - Loving Your Neighbor

22 - Faculty News

22 - New Faces

23 - Other News

24 - Year in Review

The Stromata Vol. 61, No. 1, Calvin Theological Seminary

Stromata (1956-2020)

Inside This Issue

5- Finding Hope while Struggling by Isaias D’Oleo-Ochoa

7- Liturgical Theology in the Psalter by Andrew J. Belcher

22- Plantinga’s Ontological Argument of God by Jung-Yao Wang

43- Worshipping with Our Children by Sewon Jang

Neither Libertarian Nor Compatibilist, Richard A. Muller

CTS Faculty Publications and Creative Activity

The present essay addresses Paul Helm's most recent attempt to assimilate the thought of such Reformed scholastics as Francis Turretin to the 'compatibilism' of Jonathan Edwards. Helm has misunderstood a series of important scholastic distinctions concerning the relationship of intellect and will in the older faculty psychology, and the relationship of foundational or, as I identified it, 'root' indifference in the will to its multiple potencies. He has, accordingly, failed to register how Reformed orthodox understandings of free choice outlined in recent scholarship affirm both a simultaneity or synchronicity of potencies or capacities of the will and a diachronicity of …