Beeson professor Piotr Malysz is spending part of his sabbatical at Denmark's Aarhus University's LUMEN Centre working on a project detailing what he tentatively called Martin Luther's "ontology of the promise."
In the spring of 2023, Beeson student J.T. Reeves was a senior at Wheaton College. He and his friends drove to Asbury University when they heard the reports of the spiritual awakening happening on that campus. Here, Reeves reflects on how that experience impacted him and his fellow students.
Beeson Divinity School's Joshua Chatraw, the Billy Graham Chair of Evangelism and Cultural Apologetics, joins author and theologian Jack Carson to share a word about how C.S. Lewis shows us how to care for those walking through doubt.
In order for the church to remain relevant, it must be rooted in the Word without being restricted by the walls in which it worships. Watch this sermon by Dr. Robert Smith Jr.
The Jordan Evangelical Council, which is comprised of five Protestant denominations, met together on Oct. 28 to celebrate the 505th anniversary of the Reformation.
Kristen Padilla interviews Jess Leslie for the 2022 issue of the Beeson magazine, "Singing the Faith," about hymn writing. Leslie shares a song she co-wrote with Drew Kearney.
Kristen Padilla interviews Tyshawn Gardner for the 2022 issue of the Beeson magazine, "Singing the Faith," about the role of hymns in the African American tradition.
The hymns of Charles Wesley (1707- 1788), younger brother of John Wesley, are often overlooked as significant means of “poetic proclamation” that both informed and inspired the people called Methodists.
Is Philippians 2:6-11 an early example of a Christian hymn? In this article, Dr. Sydney Park argues that even though it isn’t an early hymn, this text provides an important theological framework for contemporary worship.
Christian readers have a spiritual intuition about worship in the Old Testament. On the one hand, we immediately recognize that Israel’s tabernacle/temple worship is not for the church to practice, but on the other hand we see that traditional Christian worship reflects in many ways the practice and perspective of worship in Israel.
Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs have been central to Protestant worship ever since the Reformation. They have always been a part of Christian piety, of course. But during the 16th century, they came to play a much greater role than ever before in history.
Beeson alumni Kyle and Jules Thompson reflect on the ways Christians can respond to hurting mothers and children, drawing upon their personal and professional experience in orphan care.
When your faith wavers, when you face trials, when you have no other words, when you need to be reminded of the gospel, when you encounter the grace of God, and when you come to the end of your life, sing again and again about what Jesus Christ has done for you.
Today is John Wesley's birthday. Learn about Wesley and his profound desire to proclaim the gospel in order to the spread of holiness and Christian virtue.
A biblical pastoral theology grows out of a lived experience of the priesthood of all believers, the shared work of the kingdom of God, the gifts of the Spirit and life together in the body of Christ.
Lyuda, a longtime family friend and a missionary in Ukraine whom our church supports, in her daily updates from Odessa said, “Though today I cannot be sure that I will see you again, I am definitely sure to see you in heaven.” To Christians in Ukraine, heaven is more real than ever; to their loved ones, it has become more tangible.
The Bible begins, in the very first verse, by revealing God as the original artist. He conceived the complex universe in his imaginative mind and then spoke it into existence with incomparable craftsmanship.
Beeson graduate Anton Ivanov is from Russia and his wife, Dasha, is from Ukraine. Anton reflects on what it means to be united in Christ with those in Ukraine and shares ways Christians in the United States can pray for those in Ukraine.
No matter what your Enneagram number is, the Beatitudes do a number on your personality. Jesus cuts to the chase, ignores the numbers and does a deep dive into character. He lays out a comprehensive profile of the grace-based believer, whose personality has been transformed by the character impact of the gospel.
As we look back over 2021, we give thanks to God for his sustaining goodness to our school. Despite still having to navigate COVID, Beeson Divinity School continued offering in-person theological education and resources for the church. As we look back, here are our top news stories from 2021.
I recently read the results of a major survey on preaching during the past year of 2020. What the survey showed is that the three leading sermon topics were COVID, politics and racism. This news prompted me to think of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his work as a preacher and teacher of preachers during the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler.
Watching the events unfold in Afghanistan, we know we ought to pray. However, it’s difficult to maintain prayer when we don’t see or feel hope. It’s easier to just let the bad news play on an endless loop until we fall into the trap of despair. David Parks shares how he has learned to pray in such times.
Beeson Divinity School advisory board member and adjunct professor, Collin Hansen, writes about the importance of meeting together in person for worship at The New York Times.
The Robert Smith Jr. Preaching Institute is committed to strengthening preachers and preaching by focusing on learning, formation and practice. An excellent example of this commitment can be seen in the life and ministry of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, which is highlighted in this following essay by the director of the Preaching Institute.
Beeson's World Christianity Focus Week speaker Lionel Young shares about his personal experiences that led to the writing of his book, World Christianity and the Unfinished Task.
The pattern of our life as church is the pattern of Jesus and his whole ministry, which is God’s presence in the world, the Body of Christ. In fact, the things we do together are what characterized the whole life and ministry of Jesus in the story of the Gospel.
The silence of Holy Saturday shows how serious godlessness is, our godlessness. But already in this silence—the holy silence—godlessness is deprived of its reason to be, of any final word it might want to have on the matter of God.
There is no generic, nameless, pre-Christian deity to be known. Only God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can be known, and only the Son reveals the very being of God.
As we begin Holy Week, may we join with the unnamed woman in offering ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord who gave himself without reserve for us and our salvation.
Organic church growth in the household of faith has much more in common with the traditional family farm than it has with the highly programmed institutional church that services religious consumers. The best model for growing the church is not a mono-cultural-industrial farm.
The first time Beeson student Jordan C. learned about the story of Perpetua was while sitting in the very place Perpetua was martyred about 1,800 years ago. Today, on the anniversary of Perpetua and Felicitas's death, Jordan reflects on their legacy and the ways in which God is still at work in that area of the world today.
Eliza Davis George was a 19th-century African American missionary to Liberia, who was an evangelist, Bible teacher and church planter. Learn more about this incredible woman.
In this article, recently published in Lutheran Forum, Dr. Piotr Małysz reflects on his ten years in Birmingham and what he has learned, not only teaching at Beeson, but also providing pastoral care in an African American context.
The way Americans eat food is a kind of parable for how we eat God’s Word, and a fast-food restaurant chain is not the greatest model for following Christ and being the Church. Physical health and spiritual health are related in significant ways.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Dr. Doug Webster reflects on Dr. King's speech against the Vietnam War as a time to break silence. Dr. Webster asks if Christians today are willing to break silence.
During his time in London, we find in Dietrich Bonhoeffer's preaching a primary concern for the renewal of the congregation and its ministry as a local appropriation of the gospel.
Bonhoeffer’s reading of Genesis is the work of a preacher and theologian engaged in listening to Scripture as a witness to divine revelation in order to understand and speak the truth about God, humanity and the world.
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, MDiv student Isaiah Cruz reflects on three lessons he learned from his mother, Pastora Lidia, about gospel ministry.
Jonathan Edwards was born on Oct. 5, 1703. In honor of his birthday, Dean Douglas A. Sweeney shares seven theses Edwards has to teach Christians today.
I really want to grasp the big picture of God’s story of redemption, and I want my Beeson students to see themselves in this intricate, beautiful picture of redemption.
His parable of the wheat and weeds shows us what God’s kingdom is like, not just what it was like in the past or what it will be like in the future, but what it is like, which means the kingdom is present today.
God’s revelation deserves our careful attention. We want to resist the temptation to reduce the gospel message to sound-bites and anecdotes and insist on comprehending the whole counsel of God.
Timothy George remembers his friend and colleague, Jim Packer, who died on July 17. Jim Packer was a founding member of Beeson Divinity's Advisory Board.
Professor Paul R. House, who served with J. I. Packer on the ESV Translation Oversight Committee, shares what he learned from Jim Packer and the legacy Jim leaves behind.
The death of Jim Packer, only days before his ninety-fourth birthday, sunders one of the last remaining links with the postwar years of theological revival in the Anglican Evangelical world. Professor Gerald Bray reflects on the life and ministry of J. I. Packer
The following blog post features a sermon Dr. Timothy George delivered at Beeson Divinity School for the “Black and White in America” conference on March 4, 2016.
In view of Ephesians 2:11-22, any argument/mindset that advocates or silently endorses racism stands in direct contrast to what God has accomplished perfectly in Christ. Racism is not simply sin, but active resistance against that perfected work of God on the cross.
Dr. Frank Thielman, Presbyterian Chair of Divinity and New Testament professor, gave the following lecture in 2018 called, "The Gospel, Social Justice, and the Church," which is shown to every incoming Beeson Divinity student during new student orientation.
Bloody racial and ethnic conflict has resurfaced yet again in America in recent years, captivating the media and calling down a storm of digital comments by people from nearly all walks of life. Dean Douglas Sweeney reflects on how the evangelical movement has suffered the sins of racial prejudice ever since it first emerged from the revivals of the eighteenth-century Great Awakening.
Bloody racial and ethnic conflict has resurfaced yet again in America in recent years, captivating the media and calling down a storm of digital comments by people from nearly all walks of life. Dean Douglas Sweeney reflects on how the evangelical movement has suffered the sins of racial prejudice ever since it first emerged from the revivals of the eighteenth-century Great Awakening.
Bloody racial and ethnic conflict has resurfaced yet again in America in recent years, captivating the media and calling down a storm of digital comments by people from nearly all walks of life. Dean Douglas Sweeney reflects on how the evangelical movement has suffered the sins of racial prejudice ever since it first emerged from the revivals of the eighteenth-century Great Awakening.
Friends and families, who have lost loved ones during the pandemic, are experiencing grief in a way that is very unlike our usual experience of grief. So how do we help brothers and sisters through these complex emotional and spiritual issues?
Professor Mark DeVine believes Jesus Christ can teach us at least two lessons in this extraordinary time of death and separation: he alone sustains our faith and gathering belongs to his permanent purposes.
Yesterday, on Easter Sunday, many sermons were preached from John 11 on Jesus’s raising of Lazarus of Bethany from the dead. Dr. Timothy George shares this post he originally wrote for First Things in 2015.
“The Lord of glory” has been “crucified” (1 Cor. 2:8). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, referred to by apostles as “the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15), the one in whom “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9), has died on a cross to save his people from their sins.
With his crucifixion imminent, Jesus, moved by his love, knelt to wash the feet of his disciples. But what does Peter's initial rejection of Jesus' act of love and grace toward him have to teach us about loving others? Beeson student Samuel Hagos offers this Maundy Thursday reflection.
As this year's Easter celebrations redefine what it means to "gather" for many churches nationwide, Doug Webster reflects on the meaning of Easter by considering what can be learned from the First Easter.
In an unexpected twist this year, solitude is being imposed upon us as a compulsory Lenten practice in the form of quarantine and social distancing. How can the spiritual discipline of solitude help us during this time?
Do you believe in coincidence? The whimsical Yogi Berra remarked, "Some things are just too coincidental to be a coincidence." I never thought of Yogi as a theologian, but he stumbled upon a rich theological persuasion of Christians. God’s superintendence of our lives “brings all things together for good for those who love God” (Romans 8:28).
Wesley offers an apt description of preaching that seeks to build up the witness of God’s people in the world. We would do well to heed his words as we prepare to meet both the challenges and opportunities that lie before us.
Life and ministry in the age of COVID-19 is giving communities and people in almost every corner of our world a shared experience like never before. Beeson alumni are serving all over the globe, navigating similar challenges related to COVID-19. Though the cultures, locations, languages and ministry settings are different, our Beeson extended family is working to serve others well, meet the needs of their communities as best they can and continue in the labor of gospel ministry as they face unforeseen and unprecedented circumstances.
How do God's divine memory, presence and promises give us comfort and hope during the COVID-19 pandemic? Read this latest reflection by Professor Mark DeVine.
Moses’ admonition in Ps. 90:12, “Teach us to number our days,” made me think of two works of art, the movie Castaway and the novel Robinson Crusoe. These two dramas explore the human trauma of time on our hands.
What does Ecclesiastes teach us about life in these uncertain and unprecedented times with the COVID-19 pandemic? Professor Mark Gignilliat reflects on the advice of the elderly preacher.
The 40 days of Lent represent a time of drawing apart from life as we normally live it out the other 325 days of the year. These 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday remind us of Jesus’ time in the wilderness prior to his earthly ministry .
In June of 2019, a group of mostly African-American Beeson students and staff attended the National African American Missions Conference (NAAMC) in Washington D.C. A few of those who attended recently shared what they learned with the Beeson community.
January 6, the feast of Epiphany, marks the official end of the Christmas season. But while our neighbors have taken down their decorations to go about their everyday business, the church is not finished celebrating just yet.
What can we learn about Advent and Christmas from German theologian, pastor and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer? Beeson professor Piotr Malysz offers this Christmas meditation.
Psalm 127 provides us preachers with a splendid opportunity to reflect on the pilgrimage of God’s people across time and to proclaim a message of God’s faithful provision.
Mark DeVine introduces a lecture on preaching the whole Bible, given at Beeson Divinity School as part of the Robert Smith Jr. Preaching Institute's series, Text to Sermon.
Gerald McDermott introduces a lecture on the preaching of Jonathan Edwards, given at Beeson Divinity School as part of the Robert Smith Jr. Preaching Institute's series, Text to Sermon.
Part five of a series in which Beeson professor Paul House shares about his visit to Germany and Poland this summer to visit sites from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life and ministry.
Part six of a series in which Beeson professor Paul House shares about his visit to Germany and Poland this summer to visit sites from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life and ministry.
Part four of a series in which Beeson professor Paul House shares about his visit to Germany and Poland this summer to visit sites from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life and ministry.
Part three of a series in which Beeson professor Paul House shares about his visit to Germany and Poland this summer to visit sites from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life and ministry.
Part two of a series in which Beeson professor Paul House shares about his visit to Germany and Poland this summer to visit sites from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life and ministry.
"We want to advance the cause of Christ. We want to see the kingdom of God flourish in this world, and we'll do what we can to take it as far as we can. Then we will do our very best to pass the task on to somebody else who can run further than we can, faster than we can and who will one day cross that finish line."--Timothy George
Finkenblog, named for Finkenwalde, the underground seminary organized and led by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, is an online forum aimed at providing content for the edification of the church.
