Fred SandersPosts by Fred Sanders
Parergon Management
Sometimes when you’re working on a big project, you find yourself spinning off, almost by accident, little sub-projects. These can be of various kinds: some are distracting sidelines; some are…
Read MoreEuthalian Ephesians
I’ve been pondering the section divisions within Ephesians. A lot of the book falls easily into obvious units of a dozen or so verses, two of which together make a…
Read MoreHoly Spirit, Holy Ghost
“What’s the difference between the Holy Spirit & the Holy Ghost?” This is the most surprising question I get, doing interviews since publishing a book on the third person of…
Read MorePhilanthropia (Williams, 1665)
Paul prays (Eph 3:19) for believers “to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.” This “orthodox paradox” is the subject of a 1665 book by a Puritan named Peter Williams…
Read MoreThe Doctrine of the Spirit in Classical Mode
With a little over a hundred and fifty pages to introduce the doctrine of the Holy Spirit at a non-technical level, I knew my main goal: I wanted to write…
Read MoreBrad East’s Review of Fountain of Salvation
I was glad to see a review of my 2021 academic book Fountain of Salvation: Trinity & Soteriology appear in one of the liveliest of theological journals, Pro Ecclesia; even…
Read MoreSynopsis of a Purer Pneumatology, Too
The Synopsis of a Purer Theology (Leiden, 1625) is one of the most satisfying products of Protestant Scholasticism. It’s now available in English, and soon in paperback (Davenant, 2023). So…
Read MoreWhen Did He Come Preach Peace?
Ephesians 2:17 says that Christ “came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.” (ἐλθὼν εὐηγγελίσατο εἰρήνην ὑμῖν τοῖς μακρὰν καὶ εἰρήνην τοῖς ἐγγύς) It’s a powerful statement,…
Read MoreRecommended Reading on the Holy Spirit
If you were to ask me, this week, what book you should read about the Holy Spirit, I would assume you were messing with me. Because I just now published…
Read MoreAn Excellent Syn-Thesis
You could work out an entire theology of salvation just by collating the ways Paul puts the prepositional prefix syn- onto a variety of words, making a compact with- or…
Read MoreHow to Have Already Met the Holy Spirit
In the first chapter of The Holy Spirit: An Introduction, I describe how “the overall pattern of scriptural revelation is that the Holy Spirit’s presence becomes clear at the end…
Read MoreRelax, You’re Probably Not Binitarian
As I was reading widely in preparation for writing a book about the Holy Spirit, I kept coming across a lament (an accusation?) that many Christians are guilty of forgetting,…
Read MoreCrescentia Syndrome and the Holy Spirit in Person
Once upon a time, a Franciscan nun named Crescentia (full name: Maria Crescentia Höss of Kaufbeuren, 1682–1744) had a vision. “The Holy Spirit appeared to her in the guise of…
Read MorePolytropos
Here’s a handout I use with undergrads who are reading Homer’s Odyssey at the beginning of the semester, and will read the book of Hebrews at the end. It just…
Read MoreScheeben: Keeping the ‘Christ’ in Christology
Matthias Joseph Scheeben (1835-1888)’s treatment of Christology fills hundreds of pages in the soteriological fifth volume of his Handbook of Catholic Dogmatics (originally published 1880s; ET 2020). It’s got all…
Read MoreLove Incorruptible (2017)
British composer Cecilia McDowall has written a fascinating modern choral anthem whose title comes from the final words of Ephesians (6:24): “Love Incorruptible.” Actually the anthem takes its entire text…
Read MoreGod of the Living (Sermon)
Here’s the script of a sermon I preached on Luke 20:27-44 (Jesus versus the Sadducees) at my home church, Grace Evangelical Free Church of La Mirada, on June 25, 2023.…
Read MorePsalm 110 Charts
Here are a couple of visual aids I routinely use when teaching from Psalm 110. The first is a simple diagram to help readers pick out the three characters identified…
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