Antisemetism in the New Testament (featuring Hans Küng, Jürgen Moltmann and Wolfhart Pannenberg) (September 5, 2019)

It is difficult to acknowledge that the New Testament contains antisemitic scriptures that exhibit hostility and prejudice against the Jewish people and indicts the Pharisees and Jewish leaders for the death of Jesus specifically and all generations of Jewish people since the death of Jesus generally. The antisemitism in the […]

Related: antijudaism, Antisemitism, Hans Küng, Holocaust, Jewish people, Jews, Judaism: Between Yesterday and Tomorrow, Jürgen Moltmann, Martin Luther, On the Jews and Their Lies, R. Kampling, Second Vatican Council, The Apostles Creed In Light of Today's Questions, Vatican II, Wolfhart Pannenberg, yellow badge, yellow star

Karl Barth on Holy Scripture’s Capacity for Error (July 24, 2019)

The Origin of the Dictation Theory of Inspiration In the Post-Reformation era, a century after the deaths of Martin Luther, John Calvin and the first and second generation reformers, the doctrine of inspiration of the Scriptures evolved into a dictation theory of inspiration, in which the biblical writers were the very […]

Related: Abraham Calov, Augustine, Augustine of Hippo, Biblicism, Capacity of Errors, Gisbert Voetius, Johannes Andreas Quenstedt, John Calvin, Karl Barth, Martin Luther, Polan, Revealed, Word of God, Word of God in Threefold Form, Written and Proclaimed

The Reformer’s Ptolemaic Cosmology: An Example from John Calvin’s Commentary on Genesis 1 (March 15, 2019)

John Calvin, Martin Luther and the other sixteenth century reformers held to a Ptolemaic cosmology, which placed the earth at the center of the universe, surrounded by about a dozen celestial spheres. The innermost spheres closest to earth correspond to the four elements (earth, water, air, and fire). The heaviest […]

Related: Accommodation, Accommodation to the Ordinary Custom of Men, astronomy, Commentary on Genesis, Copernicus, John Calvin, Martin Luther, Moses, Nicolaus Copernicus

Martin Luther’s Preface to the Qur’an (November 15, 2018)

The Qur'an was first translated into Latin in 1153, but the first latin translation published was in 1543 (and 1550) when Theodor Bibliander (1509-1564) published his latin translation of the Qur'an in Basle with the title "The lives and teaching of Muhammad, leader of the Saracrens, and of his successors, and […]

Related: Islam, James L. Boyce, Koran, Martin Luther, Mohammad, Muslim, Philip Melanchthon, Qur'an, Sarah Henrich, Theodor Bibliander

Michael Servetus: Saint, Heretic, and Martyr (Part 2: A Person Condemned by the Whole World) (September 28, 2018)

In Part 1: Burned Alive at the Stake of this Michael Servetus: Saint, Heretic, and Martyr series, I described the horrific execution of Michael Servetus. In Part 2, I will explain that John Calvin is guilty for the death of Michael Servetus, but this guilt is shared by the Geneva […]

Related: Bernard Cottret, Bruce Gordon, Catholic Church, Geneva, Geneva Council, Guillaume Farel, Heinrich Bullinger, John Calvin, Martin Bucer, Martin Luther, Michael Servetus, Philip Melanchthon, Servetus, ServetusSeries, Theodore Beza, William Farel

The Problem of Perspicuity: the Protestant doctrine of the clarity of scripture in modern times (feat. Wolfhart Pannenberg) (July 6, 2018)

Martin Luther opened pandora's box when he argued that the clarity of Scripture may be understood apart from the teaching office of the Roman Catholic Church. According to tradition, Martin Luther declared in self-defense "Here I Stand!" at the Diet of Worms (1521) and said he could not be dissuaded […]

Related: Clarity of Scripture, Martin Luther, Pannenberg, Perspicuity, Perspicuity of Scripture, Wolfhart Pannenberg

Jesus and his disciples did not write any of the New Testament (feat. Karl Barth and Martin Luther) (July 5, 2018)

Karl Barth argues in the Church Dogmatics I/1 that the Bible is not the Word of God, but the Bible becomes the Word of God when it is preached by the Church. Karl Barth's theology of the threefold Word of God maintains this important distinction, because the Word of God […]

Related: bible, Karl Barth, Martin Luther, threefold word of god, Word of God, Word of God in Threefold Form

Criticism of Penal Substitutionary Atonement (feat. Eberhard Jüngel) (June 1, 2018)

Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA) is one of many atonement theories, and is the most commonly held theory among evangelicals today. Sadly, Penal Substitutionary Atonement is wrongly assumed to be the only biblical view of atonement, and in the most egregious cases, it is tragically identified with the gospel, and anachronistically […]

Related: atonement, christus victor, Death: The Riddle and the Mystery, Eberhard Jüngel, John Calvin, Jürgen Moltmann, Karl Barth, Martin Luther, penal substitution, penal substitutionary atonement, Ransom Theory of Atonement, satisfaction theory of atonement

Martin Luther’s Share of the Guilt: Was the Protestant Reformation Really Worth It? (October 29, 2017)

The 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation is days away, so it is a time to remember and reflect upon the Reformation, and specifically upon Martin Luther, who started the Reformation by nailing his 95 Theses to the door of Wittenberg Castle church on October 31, 1517. The Reformation opened Pandora's […]

Related: 500, Hans Küng, Martin Luther, Protestant Reformation, Reformation, Reformation 500, Theology for the Third Millennium

The Errors of Inerrancy #8: Facebook Live Replay [video] (March 11, 2017)

If you missed today's live video discussion on The Errors of Inerrancy: #8 The Protestant Reformers Would Not Affirm Biblical Inerrancy (Martin Luther, John Calvin, et al.), then you may watch the video replay here, or watch it with comments on our PostBarthian FaceBook page.  In this video, I talk about Calvin's view […]

Related: Biblical Inerrancy, Errors, Inerrancy, John Calvin, Martin Luther, video