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Articles by Jonathan Cheek
Is His Name Jesus or Emmanuel?
In Western Civilization, people generally have two names–a first name and a middle name–in addition to their last name. However, they are usually only known by their first name. My first name is Jonathan. Others are known by their middle name. My dad’s name is Larry, and his middle name is Michael. He also has a black belt in martial arts. Don’t call him Larry unless you want to be hospitalized. Some parents love names so much that they give their children extra names.
What Does Jesus Calling Himself the 'Son of Man' Really Mean?
Many years ago in the technological dark ages of the 1990s, America Online (AOL) became the most popular internet/email/instant messaging platform. When setting up an AOL account, the user had to choose a screen name. My friends chose names such as “soccerboy” and “guitarguy.” When it was time for me to choose my name, I gathered all of my creative resources and came up with jcdaman30.
What Does Jesus Being Called the Son of God Really Mean?
My great grandpa’s name was Goebel — and he was a stud. As we were looking through old family pictures a few years ago, I showed a picture of 50-year-old Goebel to my wife and kids. My wife said, “He was a nice-looking guy.” Of course, Goebel was my dad’s dad’s dad, and there happens to be a striking resemblance between Goebel and me — even if my wife and kids claim not to see it. In addition to the handsome physical appearance, we also have a similar personality. Now, I never knew Goebel.
Is the ‘Seed of the Woman’ Individual or Collective? Yes
The past 30 years have provided something of a renaissance in the interpretation of Genesis 3:15, with many evangelical scholars providing sound exegetical and theological argumentation that this verse explicitly anticipates a future individual offspring of the woman. However, many scholars still strongly affirm the collective understanding of the seed of the woman. Another view proposes that the expectation of the seed of the woman is both individual and collective.
Seeking God’s Face: Practical Reflections on Honor and Shame in Scripture
Written by Jackson Wu and Ryan Jensen Reviewed By Chris Flanders In Seeking God’s Face, two able scholars have provided the church with a practical resource for considering the biblical concepts of honor and shame. Jackson Wu is a former cross-cultural servant and instructor in China and author of many books related to issues of honor and shame. Ryan Jensen is also a writer and scholar with several years of his own experience in East Asia.
Trauma and Coping Mechanisms among Assemblies of God World Missionaries: Towards a Biblical Theory of Well-Being
Written by Valerie A. Rance Reviewed By Jessica Udall It is common for missionaries to experience frequent traumatic events in addition to the high levels of stressors involved in daily cross-cultural living. The effects of this trauma often lead to missionary attrition. In this published form of her doctoral dissertation, Valerie A.
Ann Judson: A Missionary Life for Burma
Written by Sharon James Reviewed By Sydney Dixon In 1812, Ann Hasseltine Judson left the shores of North America as one of the first female American missionaries and became a catalyst for subsequent missionary endeavors during her generation and for generations to come. Ann’s influence flowed beyond the shores of America to Britain, spurring on the missionary movement in both countries through her book, An Account of the American Baptist Mission to the Burman Empire (1823).
Reaching your Muslim Neighbor with the Gospel
Written by A. S. Ibrahim Reviewed By Duane Alexander Miller In this brief, introductory volume Ayman Ibrahim departs from his customary academic work to branch out into more popular writing as he offers practical advice on reaching your Muslim neighbor with the gospel. The book is divided into two parts. The first part addresses “Understanding Muslims and Islam” (pp. 17–94). He begins by explaining that there are many ways of living out Islam. This is indeed a practical and important point.
Learning to Lead: The Making of a Christian Leader in Africa
Written by Richard J. Gehman Reviewed By Chris Howles Those of us who have been fortunate enough to witness the perseverance and zeal with which so many African pastors conduct their local church ministries tend to disagree with the old adage that the African church is ‘a mile-wide and an inch-deep’.
The Case for Christian Nationalism
Written by Stephen Wolfe Reviewed By Bradford Littlejohn Stephen Wolfe’s The Case for Christian Nationalism presents a paradox for any reviewer, defying the genre boundaries that usually quarantine works of academic history or theory from the hurly-burly of popular politics.
This Sacred Life: Humanity’s Place in a Wounded World
Written by Norman Wirzba Reviewed By Andrew J. Spencer The place of humanity within the created order is a central concern of Western culture. There are extremists arguing for human extinction and others who describe maximizing the birthrate as a moral duty. The basic questions that underlie humanity’s relationship to creation are deeply connected to one’s location, one’s identity, and one’s proper way of life. These are the questions Norman Wirzba takes up in his book, This Sacred Life.
The Air We Breathe: How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality
Written by Glen Scrivener Reviewed By Rory Shiner The western world’s relationship to the Christian faith is like a celebrity marriage—complicated. At one level, our culture’s rejection of its ancestral faith has never been so enthusiastic, so complete, so aggressive. It looks, for all intents and purposes, like a divorce of the acrimonious variety. And yet, our world remains so deeply Christian.
Transgender to Transformed: A Story of Transition That Will Truly Set You Free
Written by Laura Perry Reviewed By Emily J. Maurits ‘Don’t dismiss someone’s feelings even if they don’t sound reasonable’ (p. 74). This is the advice Perry gives readers as she recounts the crushing moment when her teenage plea for help is ignored, a moment which may very well have set her on her transgender journey. It’s a wise piece of counsel, not only for relating to people struggling with their gender identity, but also for reading their stories.
Keeping Your Children’s Ministry on Mission: Practical Strategies for Discipling the Next Generation
Written by Jared Kennedy Reviewed By Aaron Rothermel The terrain of Children’s ministry with its many conferences, resources, and philosophies will bewilder the uninitiated. Many throw up their hands, pick a curriculum they like, find someone to run the ministry, and are relieved as long as the classrooms have enough volunteers. But is your children’s ministry on mission? Jared Kennedy’s Keeping Your Children’s Ministry on Mission will help you answer that question.
The Individual and Collective Offspring of the Woman: The Canonical Outworking of Genesis 3:15
ARTICLES Volume 48 - Issue 1 Abstract Studies on Genesis 3:15 often debate whether the seed of the woman refers to an individual or a collective group. The key words and concepts from Genesis 3:15 recur in numerous instances in the OT and the NT, which support the idea that the offspring of the woman should be understood as both an individual and as a collective group.
Genealogy and Doctrine: Reformed and Confucian Sociologies of Knowledge
Abstract This article presents comparative textual analyses toward a basic grammar for understanding the interface between Reformed and Confucian sociologies of knowledge. I first propose a three-part Reformed theology of theological tradition in terms of historically successive communities. I then present relevant material from the Analects of Confucius, focusing on Confucius’s own sociology of learning and instruction.
Failure to Atone: Rethinking David’s Census in Light of Exodus 30
Abstract Various interpretations have been offered on how David sinned in taking the census of 2 Samuel 24, but too few have seriously grappled with the implications of Exodus 30:11–16 or the structure of 2 Samuel 21–24. Taking Exodus 30:11–16 as the starting point, this article argues that David was supposed to take the census, and that, as with the situation with the Gibeonites in 2 Samuel 21, David’s role was meant to be that of one who atones for the nation’s sins, turning away God’s wrath.
What Shall We Remember? The Eternality of Memory in Revelation
Abstract This essay considers the concept of the eternality of human memory and what the Christian may expect to remember after death. Although numerous resources address the topic of the resurrected life, few consider the Bible’s teaching on the permanence of memory. By considering key passages from the book of Revelation, this study attempts a brief overview on the topic.
Christological Arguments for Compatibilism in Reformed Theology
Abstract Christian compatibilists believe that human freedom and moral responsibility are compatible with theological determinism, i.e., a robust account of divine sovereignty. Whereas most arguments for compatibilism stem from considerations about divine providence, human nature, or sin, we ought not to neglect christological arguments.
Going Deeper - The Gospel Coalition
Late last year at the annual gathering of the fellowship of churches to which I belong,1 I was asked to give a five-minute address to the following question: ‘What will be the main theological issues facing us in the next few years?’ Quite a challenge! I wonder how you would respond? Here’s a slightly expanded version of what I said in full recognition that I’d canvassed and collated responses from some friends and colleagues as to how they’d answer the question in such a limited span.
“You are the Salt of the Earth” (Matthew 5:13): Influence or Invitation?
Abstract Jesus identifies the disciples as “the salt of the earth” (Matt 5:13), which many commentators understand as a call for believers to be a part of preserving and influencing human society for the good. This article argues that “salt of the earth” is to be read as the church’s calling to participate in the flavor of the redemptive kingdom of heaven, and by extension to invite those outside to share in the feast of the new creation reality.
Christ For Us: An Analysis of Bonhoeffer’s Christology and Its Implications for His Ethic
Abstract This article analyzes the Christology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the famous German theologian who stood against evil in a day when his contemporaries failed. It traces the outline of Christology, including its dual emphasis on the transcendence and the immanence of God in Christ.
Comments on New Testament Commentaries
Pastors and theological students have long prized commentaries.
Seeing Is Not Believing: Apocalyptic Epistemology and Faith in the Son of God in Mark’s Gospel
ARTICLES Volume 48 - Issue 1 Abstract Following recent discussions on the nature of apocalyptic, this article argues that apocalyptic primarily has to do with revelation of hidden things. This means that at the core of apocalyptic is epistemology, and it is thus argued that the Gospel of Mark is apocalyptic essentially in its epistemology rather than eschatology. Mark’s parable theory, and hence the responses to Jesus, is examined in this light.
The Case for Christian Nationalism: A Review Article
Abstract For all the fine retrieval work Stephen Wolfe does in parts of The Case for Christian Nationalism, the overall project must be rejected. I offer a substantive critique of this book under four headings: nations and ethnicity, the nature of the church, Protestant political thought, and the way forward.
Christ’s Surpassing Glory: An Argument for the “Inappropriateness” of OT Christophanies From Exodus 33–34 and 2 Corinthians 3:7–4:6 - The Gospel Coalition
Abstract Did the Pre-incarnate Christ reveal himself in the Old Testament? Many believe that visible manifestations of God in the Old Testament must be manifestations of the Son. Surely if this is true, then we would be able to identify Christ most clearly in the Old Testament’s grandest manifestations of God’s glory. However, Paul’s reflection on the Sinai theophany identifies that which was revealed to Moses as a lesser glory, one that we cannot equate with Christ’s surpassing glory.
The Eagle Has Landed: 3 John and Its Theological Vision for Pastoral Ministry
Abstract This article argues that when 3 John is read in light of John’s Gospel, it can be seen to have rich theological foundations and to offer a vision for ministry which is the natural and fitting trajectory of the Gospel. These are especially evident in 3 John’s depiction of the ministry of individuals, the conflict their ministry provokes, their practice of hospitality, rejection of self-love, and the pattern of imitation in the life of the church.
Women and the Gender of God
Written by Amy Peeler Reviewed By Marcus Johnson Amy Peeler, associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, has written a book with an ostensibly obvious thesis: “God does indeed value women” (p. 7). This thesis, which she calls “audacious,” has a lurking theme present throughout the book that is intended to strengthen its point: God is not male.
Four Meanings of Introversion: Social, Thinking, Anxious, and Inhibited Introversion
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48-1 Archives - The Gospel Coalition
Studies on Genesis 3:15 often debate whether the seed of the woman refers to an individual or a collective group... This article presents comparative textual analyses toward a basic grammar for understanding the interface between Reformed and Confucian sociologies of knowledge... Various interpretations have been offered on how David sinned in taking the census of 2 Samuel 24, but too few have seriously grappled with the implications of Exodus 30:11–16 or the structure of 2 Samuel 21–24...
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