Faculty
Born from Israel to Redeem the World
The stage was set. The world was waiting for a Savior. And Jesus entered in quietly, almost unnoticed, in a little stable in a little town. Christianity was born through a Jewish Savior. But he didn’t come right away. He didn’t come after Adam sinned or after God chose Abraham. He didn’t come after David…
Read MoreBorn into the Greco-Roman World
The Apostle Paul wrote that Jesus was born at the fullness of time (Gal. 4:4). In the last post, we looked at why Jesus was born at the right time theologically—God, in his providence, allowed sin to increase so that we would see our need for a Savior. But, historically speaking, God was up to…
Read MoreBorn in the Fullness of Time
Have you ever wondered why Jesus came when he did? Why didn’t the Father send Jesus just after Adam and Eve sinned? Or why not in 500 BC or 500 AD? Why send him around the year 4 BC? In writing to the Galatians, Paul slips in an interesting argument for Christmas: But when the fullness…
Read MoreWhat Can Be Done About Death?
Over several weeks on the Shepherds and Scholars blog, we’ve been exploring death’s refrain in Genesis chapter 5. We’ve looked at what death is and what causes it. Now, we look at the most important question: What, if anything, can be done about it? What possible hope could there be from such a deep problem?…
Read MoreWhere Does Death Come From?
When we look for the cause of death in the Scriptures, we find something that may be surprising. Death is first announced by God’s own lips. God told Adam in Genesis 2 that he could surely eat of any tree but one, and that on the day he ate from the one forbidden tree, he…
Read MoreWhat Is Death?
Do you remember how you learned the Alphabet? A, B, C, D… and so on, right? At some point, you probably had a nice picture book to help you out: “A” is for apple you dutifully learned. “B” is for ball. “C” is for cat. The acrostic wasn’t always so cute. In seventeenth-century New England,…
Read MoreA Conversation with Dr. J. Michael Thigpen about Human Flourishing and the Creation Mandate
How are we to flourish in the presence of sin? And what role, if any, does the creation mandate—the commands which flow from our creation in God’s image—play in our flourishing in the presence of sin? What does that mandate have to do with justice and the gospel? These are questions that Phoenix Seminary Provost…
Read MoreFaculty Book Club: When Doctrine Divides
Alexander Pope famously said, “To err is human; to forgive is divine,” in his celebrated poem “Essay on Criticism.” Err is part and parcel of the human condition, and since we are prone to err, we are certain to divide. That one liner is not all Pope said in his blistering critique on criticism. Burrowing…
Read MoreDr. Meade Completes 10-Year Research Project
The following is an interview with Dr. John Meade, Associate Professor of Old Testament and Co-Director of the seminary’s Text & Canon Institute. Dr. Meade recently completed a major 10-year project on the text of Job and we are excited to celebrate this major achievement with him. PS: How did you take an interest in…
Read MoreCancelling the Curse
The first glimpse of Christmas comes in the third chapter of your Bible just after Adam and Eve sinned against God. With the juices of the forbidden fruit still running down their cheeks, God made a promise to our first parents in Genesis 3:15: I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman,…
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