This same literal interpretation was a marked feature of Old Testament interpretation. Jerome, in rejecting the strict literal method of interpretation, “calls the literal interpretation ‘Jewish,’ implies that it may easily become heretical and repeatedly says it is inferior to the ‘spiritual.’”1 . . . Continue reading →
Hermeneutics
Review: The Anxious Generation: How The Great Rewiring Of Childhood Is Causing An Epidemic Of Mental Illness By Jonathan Haidt
Very few books, at least those that are uninspired, truly blow my mind and prompt immediate change in my lifestyle. Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation, however, sent me spinning almost every time I sat down with it. What I learned not only . . . Continue reading →
Review: Reclaiming The “Dark Ages”: How The Gospel Light Shone From 500 To 1500 By Iain Wright and Yannick Imbert
On-ramps are really important for merging safely and easily into fast-moving traffic. Where I live near Detroit, the merging lanes at the end of on-ramps are shockingly short, often leaving a sense of dangerous urgency to find a place to fit comfortably . . . Continue reading →
Review: Mere Christian Hermeneutics: Transfiguring What It Means To Read The Bible Theologically By Kevin J. Vanhoozer
How do we understand the Bible? And should Christians not all agree about how to do so? Given Scripture’s clarity, we might think the answer is an obvious yes! The church’s history, however, tells a different story. The transition from the medieval . . . Continue reading →
Heidelvideo #4—On The Distinction Between Law And Gospel (Part 3)
In Heidelvideo episode 4 Dr Clark responds to some criticisms of the Reformation distinction between law and gospel. Continue reading →
Heidelvideo #3—On The Distinction Between Law And Gospel (Part 2)
In Heidelvideo episode 3 Dr Clark continues a three-part series on distinguishing law and gospel. Continue reading →
Heidelvideo #2—On The Distinction Between Law And Gospel (Part 1)
In Heidelvideo episode 2 Dr Clark begins a three-part series on distinguishing law and gospel. Continue reading →
Heidelvideo #1—John Cleese Is Wrong: Christ Is In The Old Testament
Recently comedian John Cleese, of Monty Python fame, posted on X, “That’s why MAGA ‘Christians’ prefer the Old Testament to the New Testament. Christ isn’t in it.” He could not be more wrong. RESOURCES All the Heidelvideos Heidelvideo on YouTube Subscribe To . . . Continue reading →
Augustine On The Hermeneutics Of Love
While Augustine argues that ‘there are two things on which all interpretation of Scripture depends: the mode of ascertaining the proper meaning and the mode of making known the meaning when it is ascertained,’ it should be evident that the first step . . . Continue reading →
Abraham Was Not Moses
Several years ago, I had the privilege of contributing an article to 9Marks. The point of my post there (and here) was not to argue the specifics of the paedobaptist (infant baptizing) case, but nevertheless, in response to that contribution, a correspondent . . . Continue reading →
Johnson On How To Preach The Imperatives
Since the grace of the exodus set the context for the stipulations that Israel was to observe as the Lord’s servant, how much more should Christian preachers expound those many biblical texts that shine the spotlight on the responsibilities of God’s covenant . . . Continue reading →
Johnson On Unity And Diversity In Scripture
The purposes of Scripture are not unrelated to each other; they are complementary reflections of God’s manifold wisdom. The diversity and unity of Scripture disclose the marvelously diverse and unified plan of God for the whole history of the cosmos. Paul speaks . . . Continue reading →
Johnson: The Covenantal Structure Is Baked In
The covenantal structure is built into God’s relationship with his human creatures from creation and finds various expressions in subsequent redemptive history. In view of this pervasive structure, readers and preachers of Scripture do well to approach every text with special attention . . . Continue reading →
Johnson On The Biblical Basis For The Covenant Of Works
Although the term “covenant” (berith) is not used in Genesis to designate the original commitment that bound the newly created Adam to his creator, the essential features of later biblical covenants between God the covenant Lord and his people as his servant . . . Continue reading →
Johnson: Seeing Christ In All Of Scripture Requires Good Exegesis
To understand how any Old Testament event (or office or officer or institution) preaches Christ and finds its fulfillment in him, we first must grasp its symbolic depth in its own place in redemptive history … The Passover lamb’s blood declared that . . . Continue reading →
Johnson: The Act Of Eating Was A Spiritual Decision
As far back as the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil symbolized a spiritual issue. Eating from it would bring death but not because the fruit was physically poisonous. Indeed, its fruit was “good for food” (Gen. . . . Continue reading →
Johnson: The Relation Between Types & Fulfillment Is Real
To be responsible to the Bible’s divine Author and credible to our hearers, our identification of typological similarities (as well as contrasts between type and antitype) must be warranted by evidence in the text of Scripture, not merely the product of our . . . Continue reading →
Johnson: The Relation Between Type And Fulfillment
Similarly, the Davidic lament of Psalm 22:1, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” belonged on Jesus’ lips (Matt. 27:46) not because the sufferings portrayed in the psalm had no referent in David’s own experience but because David himself—in his . . . Continue reading →
Johnson: Were The Apostles Irresponsible Interpreters Of Scripture?
Old Testament texts may both refer (even retrospectively) to an Old Testament event (type) and find fulfillment (prospectively) in a New Testament event (antitype). Matthew’s application of Hosea 11:1, “Out of Egypt I called my son,” to the sojourn of Joseph and . . . Continue reading →
Johnson: That Adam Was A Type of Christ Implies Federal Theology
Adam was a typos of the Coming One. This first example vividly illustrates the similarity and dissimilarity between type and fulfillment that characterizes biblical typology. The similarity between Adam and Christ is that each acts as a covenantal representative whose response to . . . Continue reading →