Ten articles from eight issues, 1996 to 2018
Burgess works through baptism in the form of a parish dialogue: Martha worries the congregation doesn't follow up, Jerry's too busy, Lisa's not sure baptism matters, Max thinks it's mostly welcome. The conversation works toward a shared theology of what the church is doing when it pours water.
Should we baptize infants or only believers? Sprinkle, pour, or immerse? Mills argues with James Torrance that the first question to ask isn't who or how, but what baptism actually does. The Reformed answer reorients the practical debates almost completely.
Christians are made to be different. Achtemeier follows that New Testament refrain into the abortion debate, arguing that the church's witness on the unborn is finally a sacramental one: people who live by the powers of the triune Lord cannot value human life on the world's terms.
Why do so many Christians treat the old creeds as out of date? Leanne Van Dyk sets out seven things the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds do for a church, from identifying believers at baptism and teaching the faith to uniting Christians and comforting the broken.
What did Calvin teach about baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and what does he still offer Presbyterians? Viola Larson works through Book Four of the Institutes, showing sacraments that seal God’s promise in Christ and depend on the Word and the Spirit.
Why were prophets, priests and kings anointed, and what does that have to do with Jesus’ baptism? Randall Otto argues that Jesus’ baptism served his threefold office, and that Christians share each of those callings when they are baptized.
Why does the church baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and not in titles we might prefer? Alvin Kimel argues from Basil, Athanasius, Barth and Jenson that the triune name is God’s own, and that feminist substitutes give up the gospel.
What does a congregation witness when a couple marries in Lord’s Day worship? Preaching on Colossians 3, Ralph Hawkins calls for courageous Christian marriages, in which husband and wife clothe themselves with love each day, as the baptized put on Christ.
Has the church let therapy replace forgiveness? L. Gregory Jones argues that forgiveness belongs inside the doctrines of Christ, church and judgment, and traces how baptism, eucharist and confession form a forgiving, holy people.
What does it mean to be baptized into Christ’s death when a friend is dying of cancer? Shirley Smith argues that baptism promises suffering as well as new life, and that only the cross can give pain a meaning that theology and therapy cannot.
In print, to anyone who asks.
"Sustained by readers."
Theology Matters is sent in print to anyone who requests it, sustained primarily by readers like you. Tax-deductible.
Give a Gift