Recent Posts

Philippians 2:1-4 Devotional

Philippians 2:1-4. Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and...

Christus Victor and the New Testament

The Bible presents us with a victory motif, often brought together under the Christus Victor view of the atonement. This post is the third in a series considering Gustav Aulén’s...

Philippians 1:27-30 Devotional

Philippians 1:27-30. Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence,...

Fridays with Fred: Sacrifice and Significance

Nietzsche writes in Aphorisms on Love and Hate, “A valiant army convinces us about the cause for which it is fighting.” He uses this analogy to develop his idea that...

Philippians 1:25-26 Devotional

Philippians 1:25-26. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that...

A Broad Critique of Christus Victor

My previous post introduced this series, which will reflect specifically Gustav Aulén’s Christus Victor and more generally on that view of the atonement. In the first post we considered the...

Philippians 1:21-24 Devotional

Philippians 1:21-24. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour...

Fridays with Fred: Existentialism and Entertainment

“One hears a lot of talk about men, but none at all about man.” So wrote Friedrich Nietzsche in his Aphorisms on Love and Hate. To the skim reader, you...

Retrieving Christus Victor

Despite the criticisms levelled against Mel Gibson’s The Passion, especially from Protestant quarters, his portrayal of Gethsemane is profoundly theological. After pleading with the Father to be spared the cross,...