PART SIX: George Swinnock’s ‘The Blessed and Boundless God’ This book has a sad history. It was written by a knight of the realm of high education; a man of letters with familiarity with the great Latin playwrights. Sir Richard Baker was imprisoned in the Fleet Prison for the last ten years of his life for failure to pay debts. Those debts were, sadly, a result of Sir Richard’s becoming surety for another. It appears (states Alexander Grosart) that all …
Blog Posts
Very preoccupied right now. Here’s one from the vaults: The identity of the “Sons of God” in the sixth chapter of Genesis is and always has been, as one OT writer has put it, “the subject of a longstanding debate among biblical scholars.”[1] Whichever view is taken of them, it cannot be doubted that even amid the extraordinary stories in Genesis 1-11, the first four verses of Genesis 6 are extremely enigmatic. Why does the human author (Moses) use this term …
Part 11 We are now in a position to tackle the main objections to the view that the Church is a full party (with future Israel) in the New covenant. As we will see, for this to be so it must be established that the New covenant is in effect now. I intend to try to prove that by looking again at the salient passages, noting how the “Israel-only” arguments are unsatisfactory. But before I do that I want to …
PART FIVE – A Discourse Concerning the Holy Spirit by John Owen When I began assembling a library of Puritan books in the early 90’s (yes, I’m that old), Soli Deo Gloria was publishing many great authors. Additionally, living in England I had access to many great bookshops and found many treasures on the shelves. One of the Puritans I never came across back then was George Swinnock. Soli Deo Gloria didn’t publish Swinnock. I think this was because Don …
PART TEN Christ’s Intercession At the Right Hand of God I have surveyed a lot of texts which refer to the New covenant in both Testaments. I could continue into the General Epistles and Revelation, but I believe I have made a good case for my thesis that the New covenant in Christ’s blood (Lk. 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25) is the salvation covenant, and that it forms the basis of hope for Israel and the Church. There are many in …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6P7OTrM3nCDE5XpKHbpOxk https://open.spotify.com/episode/7if4M7T5EhPAYy0XLR9r5z https://open.spotify.com/episode/2ojMDxUowcMYEPQcr4zWcz …
A review of Ben Witherington III, Biblical Theology: The Convergence of the Canon, Cambridge University Press, 2019, 495 pages, paperback. Ben Witherington is a well known and respected NT scholar who has written commentaries on about every book of the NT, as well as a few in the OT. Additionally, he has written works of historical fiction, NT Introduction and NT Theology. Witherington is an engaging writer who is not afraid to stand apart from the scholarly crowd on occasion. …
My daughter is getting married this week, so I am indisposed. I am reposting these ‘parameters’ for anyone who is seeking boundaries for Biblical interpretation. It took me an eternity (well, ten years) to complete this series. The Parameters of Meaning (as well as the Rules of Affinity) are meant to guide the interpreter of Scripture as the Bible is studied. They are not a hermeneutics manual. They are, however, a set of principles designed to prevent the reader from drifting too far …
Part Four – The Excellency of a Gracious Spirit by Jeremiah Burroughs When I think about a truly spiritual writer; a writer whose is content constantly tethered to the interactions between God and man, my mind turns to John Owen (d. 1683). Owen is generally regarded as the Prince of the Puritans, although opinions as why he retains the accolade are not too easy to come by. For my part, I think he deserves the title because of the variety, …
PART NINE Hebrews – Epistle of the New Covenant Hebrews starts off by elevating Jesus Christ, proving from the OT that He is divine, but that He also “purged our sins” (Heb. 1:3) because He took upon Himself humanity (cf. Heb. 1:6; 2:9, 17). Jesus holds the office of High Priest (Heb. 3:1; 4:14-16). And the question arises, whose High Priest is He? As the book of Hebrews proceeds three major aspects of God’s Creation Project begin to appear. The …
