Fred SandersPosts by Fred Sanders
The 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…
Read MoreThe Risen One Here and Now
A few remarks I made at a ceremony for the five-year anniversary of the artistic renovation of Biola University’s Calvary Chapel on June 22, 2023: This chapel is named Calvary.…
Read MoreFlavel’s Outline of Union with Christ
John Flavel’s Method of Grace (2nd ed., 1699) is a wonderful treatise whose scope is clear from its elaborately long title and subtitle: The Method of Grace in Bringing Home…
Read MoreSophia Susannah Taylor (1817-1911)
In 2021 I wrote up a report on how William Burt Pope translated over a dozen works of conservative German biblical scholarship in the 1850s (in his 30s, before publishing…
Read MoreTrinitarian Analogies Stir Up the Mind
A trinitarian analogy (“the Trinity is like an egg;” “the Trinity is like a team,” “the Trinity is like the structure of consciousness,” etc.) is a conceptual tool. It’s designed…
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