Paul’s Account of Evil Cosmic Forces — In this article, I want to summarize Paul’s account of the cosmos — his cosmology — as it is ruled by malevolent powers in Romans 5–8. In particular, I will focus on the power of hamartia, ‘Sin’ (with a capital S) which dominates Paul’s cosmic scene. This should be distinguished…

Amy Peeler’s recent book (Eerdmans 2022) is one of the best books in recent years on, well, women and the gender of God. It is very well-researched and well-documented (in extensive endnotes); it displays expertise in the fields of both New Testament studies and gender studies; it is sensitive to…

An Unconditional Reading of Romans 5:12–21, Part 1 — Romans 5:12–21 is a very fundamental passage in Paul. It contains his most extended contrast between Christ and Adam (in that order), focussing on ‘the gift’ (charis) versus ‘the trespass’ (parabasis/paraptōma), leading respectively to ‘justification of life’ (dikaiōsis zōēs) and ‘judgment unto condemnation’ (krima eis katakrima). …

Veel theologische systemen in het Westen zijn in de kern contractueel en voorwaardelijk. Dat wil zeggen, de relatie tussen God en de mens wordt gereguleerd door een ‘contract’ dat bepaalde eisen stelt voor beide partijen; als de mens voldoet aan zijn voorwaarden, dan moet God hem belonen; als hij dat…

Met betrekking tot recente discussies — Veel mensen lijken te veronderstellen dat, als het evangelie verkondigd wordt, mensen een beslissing van geloof of ongeloof kunnen nemen waar hun redding van afhangt: als ze ervoor kiezen te geloven, worden ze gered; als ze ervoor kiezen om niet te geloven, worden ze niet gered. Redding ligt in de…

A Summary Analysis of the Counterpart of Paul’s Gospel — In the letter to the Galatians, Paul famously opposes ‘another gospel’, which is not really a gospel at all (cf. Gal 1:6–7). By cautiously ‘mirror-reading’ Paul’s polemic, we can discern the contours of this alternative ‘gospel’, which arguably is also reflected in Romans 1–4 and Philippians 3. It is proclaimed…

Some Afterthoughts — This is the epilogue to an article series on Hell: see my first article (on election), second article (on merit), and third article (on embodiment and the ending of evil). Throughout the previous articles, the reader could detect a clash between two fundamentally different theological systems, [1] the key question…

Part 3: Embodiment, Ending Evil + Final Remarks — This is the final part in a series of articles asking questions about Hell; see also part 1 and part 2. 4. Are people embodied in Hell? (1) Yes — they are embodied In one scenario, humans destined for Hell are resurrected with their own fallen body, but endowed with a special kind of ‘immortality’ — the ability to endure infinite torment…

Part 2: Desert — This is the continuation of my first article on Hell; see also part 3. 3. Do all people deserve eternal punishment? The foundational principle of ECT is retributive justice: everyone is personally ‘retributed’ in accord with their own deeds. In other words, everyone gets what they deserve. If this principle of personal merit is held consistently (which…