Tag Archives: anthropology

Review: Jonathan Edwards among the Theologians (Crisp)

Posted on November 16, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

Crisp, Oliver. Jonathan Edwards Among the Theologians. Grand Rapids, MI: 2015. Oliver Crisp paradoxically expands and summarizes key elements of his previous research. By contrasting Edwards with several Reformed thinkers, Crisp highlights some of Edwards’ unique (and sometimes bizarre) views. … Continue reading →

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Systematic Theology, volume 2 (Wolfhart Pannenberg)

Posted on November 4, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

Review: Pannenberg, Wolfhart.  Systematic Theology volume 2. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1991. Translated by Geoffrey Bromiley. (His name is pronounced “Volf-hart,” not “Wolf-Heart.”  He is not a character in a Twilight fan fiction). What would a Christology from below look like if it were … Continue reading →

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Review: The Biblical Doctrine of Man (Gordon Clark)

Posted on June 7, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

Thesis: Gordon Clark identifies the “man” with the “soul, spirit, or mind” (Clark 88). Man is the image (9). Clark doesn’t want to include the body in the definition of the image, but not because he is a rationalist.  He … Continue reading →

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Bringing the nous into the heart

Posted on February 11, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

This is from John Mcguckin’s The Path of Christianity: The First Thousand Years, pp. 862-869.  It is very difficult for many people to approach the ancient fathers on prayer.  For some, it looks too much like Buddhism.  And for many activists … Continue reading →

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Review: What Sort of Human Nature?

Posted on January 16, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

Medieval analytic philosophy gets to the heart of the problem:  If Christ has two natures, one of which he assumed as a human nature, and if he is consubstantial with us in our humanity, yet our nature is sinful, how … Continue reading →

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Review: Hoppe, A Short History of Man

Posted on October 27, 2017 by J. B. Aitken

This is a “For Dummies” version of his groundbreaking *Democracy: The God that Failed.* While it has some serious limitations, it’s last chapter, on Aristocracy and Democracy, is brilliant. And even in the earlier sections of the book there are … Continue reading →

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Notes on Berkouwer’s anthropology

Posted on July 4, 2017 by J. B. Aitken

From his Man: The Image of God On the broader/narrower distinction: man, despite his fall, was not beastialized (38).  By narrower man lost his communion with God. the broader sense reminds us of what was not lost in the fall. … Continue reading →

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Notes on Thomas Aquinas’s Treatise on grace

Posted on January 9, 2017 by J. B. Aitken

Obviously, this is not a full endorsement. Can we know God without grace? The act of the intellect depends upon God in two ways: it has its form by which it acts from God Preparing the human will The preparation … Continue reading →

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Augustine, Spirit and the Letter

Posted on March 18, 2016 by J. B. Aitken

Initial argument: to respond to Pelagius’s claim that one can live a sinless life. Other topics addressed: justification by free grace, spiritual interpretation, the nature of human willing and choosing. Observations:  There are many important topics in this book, yet … Continue reading →

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Augustine: Baptism and Forgiveness

Posted on March 9, 2016 by J. B. Aitken

These are some notes from Augustine’s treatise Baptism and the Forgiveness of Sins.  Once you get passed the grim assertions that unbaptized babies aren’t saved (which guaranteed that the Catholic church would come up with theories of Limbo), there are some … Continue reading →

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