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The Logos Academic Blog

Karl Barth’s Doctrine of the Word of God: Part 1 of 3

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by Justin Eimers

One of the most challenging areas to speak about earnestly is our treatment of the Holy Scriptures. Within the Evangelical community, words like inerrancy and infallibility have been weaponized to intimidate and silence people who are asking simple questions of the text and the Christian community for its adherence to it.

Many Christians know little about these words or their meaning, and even fewer understand how a believer and a non-believer can read the same text and yet come away with entirely different understandings of it. For this, I think it is essential that we look to one of the most formidable theologians in the church’s long history named Karl Barth.

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Academic Jobs in Biblical Studies and Theology: Mar 23 – Apr 21, 2020

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This past month (yes, it’s been that long) has been consumed by worries about the pandemic and hours spend indoors resisting the temptation to binge on Netflix. Yet there are still jobs being advertised around the world for those in biblical studies and theology. So take heart, friends, and look at the list below as a sign of hope and human resilience. Happy hunting.

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The Spiritual Discipline of Reading Your Theological Dissidents

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Years ago, The Atlantic had an article entitled, “Study Theology, Even If You Don’t Believe in God.” The author of the article (Tara Isabella Burton) is a Clarendon Scholar at Trinity College, Oxford, where she is working on a doctorate in theology and literature. In this piece, she talks about studying theology as a secularist.

While reading, I was immediately drawn into thinking about my own theological education in various schools in the States and the UK that confessionally are very broad. As well, my pastoral ministry sparked many thoughts reading this, as a member of clergy for over two decades in a theologically minimalist denomination embedded in a complex urban center (Los Angeles, California) that is filled with many traditions, ideas, dogmas and questions. I thought, “If a nonbeliever can study theology, certainly believers should be studying theology with folks of different theologies.”

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John Gerstner’s Edwardsian Shadow

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Put your ear to the ground in Ascension Presbytery in Western Pennsylvania, and it won’t be long before you hear people talking about the life and influence of Dr. John Gerstner (1914-1996). Gerstner was a longtime seminary professor and Reformed theologian in this area, and deeply affected the lives of very many people. Gerstner was Westminsterian in his doctrine and Edwardsian in his convictions. He mentored an entire generation of pastors to savor the doctrines of grace, with a zeal for revival and denominational renewal. 

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Academic Jobs in Biblical Studies and Theology: Jan 7–27, 2020

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The past few weeks have seen opportunities in OT, NT, Theology and more introduced to the academic job market, including THREE Biblical Studies posts at Emory. Jobs are to be had from Denmark to Wales, Canada to Norway. Happy hunting!

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Academic Jobs in Biblical Studies and Theology: Dec 17–Jan 6, 2020

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Welcome to the first Academic Jobs of 2020! We look forward to bringing you another 25 posts with the best jobs in biblical studies and theology across the globe. Jobs currently available from Athens to Nova Scotia, Princeton to Virginia. Happy hunting!

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The Heart of Our Faith is a Person: Cyril and Protestants Today

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Athanasius and Cyril. Wikipedia commons.

by Calvin Goligher | Pastor, First Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Sunnyvale, CA

Protestants are catching a wave of interest in the early Church. For many, however, this interest quickly turns into bewilderment at the massive, complex, and unfamiliar terrain of the fathers’ writings. One way to overcome this challenge is to pick one father to read and study. For this strategy to work, it is important to choose a father whose theology is reliably orthodox and biblical, and whose writing is accessible and helpful. Many of the Church fathers fit this description, but none more so than Cyril of Alexandria. His writings are an especially good place to start learning about and benefitting from the early Church.

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Academic Jobs in Biblical Studies and Theology: Aug 20 – Sep 9, 2019

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The last few weeks in the academic job market were understandably busy in the run-up to SBL in November. Of the 30 jobs on offer, take note of the three (count ’em) positions in biblical studies at Emory, a handful NT posts (Samford, LMU & Bethlehem) and some promising full professor spots. Numerous others from Chester to Vancouver, Chicago to Saskatchewan. Happy hunting.

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When Catholics and Protestants Debate Grace: A Tribute to John M. G. Barclay

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Last Summer, a special event was held at Durham University in which a number of prominent Protestant and Catholic theologians came together to (kindly) debate grace. The event was titled, “Reading Paul Today: Grace and Gift for Protestant and Catholic Theology,” and was sponsored by Durham’s Center for Catholic Studies. The impetus for this gathering was John M. G. Barclay’s paradigm-shifting work on charis, or grace, in Paul and the Gift (Eerdmans).

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