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Oh Constantine

Once upon a time there was a Roman Emperor named Constantine who used the enemy-loving Jesus to kill his enemies. What does this have to do with us? Find out:

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How the Anabaptists Emphasized the Cross

Because the Anabaptists have generally emphasized faith that is evidenced by works and thus on Jesus’ life as an example to be followed, it may prima facia appear that the saving work of the cross was less central to the early Anabaptists than it was to the Reformers and to Evangelicals. In reality, I would argue,…

Atonement: What is the Christus Victor View?

Most western Christians today understand the atonement as a sort of legal-transaction that took place between the Father and the Son that got humanity “off the hook.” The legal-transaction scenario goes something like this: God’s holiness demands that all sin be punished, which in turn requires that sinners go to eternal hell. The trouble is,…

Jesus and the Reality of Spiritual Warfare

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The Politics of Demonization

Jonathan Martin posted a blog this week that we wanted to share called the politics of demonization (demonic talk on immigration, & other things). Have you noticed the hateful ways that we characterize the “other” in public discourse? Jonathan suspects (and we agree) that there’s a powerful force driving this tendency in all of us. As he puts it…

The Problem with Mixing Church & Government

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The One True Image of God: God’s Self-Portrait, Part 4

This point is emphasized throughout the New Testament because, if we don’t get this, we are left to our own imaginations about God, and we’ll draw from a multitude of different sources to construct a mental picture of God that will, to one degree or another, fall short of the beauty of the true God…