Four Branches – February 2020

Jump to: Exegetical Systematic Historical Practical Exegetical Theology: Three Passion Predictions from Zechariah: Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will be Scattered Jesus told his disciples, “This very night you will all fall away on ...

Wittenberg vs. Geneva: A Biblical Bout in Seven Rounds on the Doctrines that Divide

Brian William Thomas is a pastor at Grace Lutheran Church (LC-MS) in San Diego, CA. He formerly served as a naval officer. He is a graduate of Christ College in Irvine, CA and Concordia Seminary. ...

“God, I Thank You That…”

My sinful nature needs little nourishment to feed smug self-satisfaction, but an unbelieving world provides a smorgasbord.  If it’s not another mass murderer semi-automatically butchering people, then it’s the drug deal gone bad with bullets ...

Preach the Word – January/February 2020

Volume 23, Number 3 Preaching to the Choir Biblically Illiterate In March 2018, The Wall Street Journal had to issue a correction. The previous day, a journalist had quoted Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as ...

Four Branches January – 2020

Jump to: Exegetical Systematic Historical Practical Exegetical Theology: Three Passion Predictions from Zechariah: The One They Have Pierced In this series of articles, we are looking at the Old Testament context of Passion Predictions from ...

The Honeycomb Scroll: Philipp Melanchthon at the Dawn of the Reformation

Gregory B. Graybill is senior pastor at First United Presbyterian Church of Moline, Illinois. He earned a DPhil at the University of Oxford and is author of Evangelical Free Will: Philipp Melanchthon’s Doctrinal Journey on ...

Four Branches December – 2019

Jump to: Exegetical Systematic Historical Practical Exegetical Theology: Three Passion Predictions from Zechariah - Thirty Pieces of Silver The prophet Zechariah is quoted a number of times in the Passion Narratives in the Gospels. In ...

Gaudete! Rejoice! Really!

Sunday’s gospel (Matthew 11:2-11) seems a strange choice for the Sunday historically known as Gaudete (Rejoice).  As the curtain opens on Matthew 11, the scene before us is John languishing in Herod’s dungeon.  Gaudete? Rejoice? ...

The Question of Canon

Michael Kruger is a professor at and the president of Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. Overview There are a number of very good books which cover the topic of the New Testament canon, ...