Articles & Essays – Page 13

Biblical Studies Fred Zaspel | September 1, 2013

That Old Serpent

Satan’s temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden is a piece of history that is basic to the Bible’s story-line and fundamental to Christian theology. In Genesis 3 Satan deceived the woman, Adam followed (cf. 1Tim.2:14), and all humanity was plunged into sin (cf. Rom.5:12). And among the results of this evil encounter is […]

Misc Fred Zaspel | September 1, 2013

D-Day and VE-Day

Students of World War 2 have often remarked that although VE-Day was not until May 8, 1945, in a very real sense the war in Europe was over on June 6, 1944 — D-Day. In “Operation Overlord” some 1,000 ships — the largest armada ever to set sail — carried some 200,000 soldiers across the […]

Divine Attributes Fred Zaspel | August 1, 2013

Four Aspects of Divine Righteousness, Part 4

Remunerative Righteousness Today we conclude our series (part 1, 2, and 3) on the various aspects of God’s righteousness. We saw last time that God’s redemptive righteousness is that aspect of his righteousness that graciously provides for his sinful creatures the righteousness he requires of them. This sets us up well to understand what is […]

Divine Attributes Fred Zaspel | August 1, 2013

Four Aspects of Divine Righteousness, Part 3

Redemptive Righteousness But all this presents a very real problem. God reveals Himself as a righteous God Who demands the same of us all and condemns all who do not conform. He will “by no means clear the guilty” (Ex. 34:7). The problem is obvious: how can any of us ever escape God’s wrath? How […]

Divine Attributes Fred Zaspel | August 1, 2013

Four Aspects of Divine Righteousness, Part 2

Rectoral Righteousness God’s “rectoral” righteousness is that aspect of His nature which demands or requires righteousness of all His creatures. This is perhaps what we normally think of when we speak of God’s righteousness. It has to do with the imposition of laws and standards. It is “the rectitude which God manifests as the Ruler […]

Divine Attributes Fred Zaspel | August 1, 2013

Four Aspects of Divine Righteousness, Part 1

Psalm 97:2 declares that God dwells in “righteousness and justice” (tsedek and mishpat). That is to say, He is Himself right and true. He is morally and ethically right, and He acts according to what is proper. This, the psalmist affirms, is God’s very “habitation.” Righteousness is no accident to Him, no incidental quality. It […]

Hermeneutics & Biblical Theology Fred Zaspel | July 25, 2013

C.H. Spurgeon on Typology

This article first appeared on credomag.com As a follow up on our brief series on typology (part 1, part 2, part 3), I wanted to share a favorite passage from Charles Spurgeon, who addresses here the seemingly impossible complexity of “anticipations” that are perfectly and wonderfully realized in the person and work of Christ. His […]

Hermeneutics & Biblical Theology Fred Zaspel | July 18, 2013

Typology as Prophecy

This article first appeared on credomag.com In the previous post we saw that typology entails a genuinely prospective element. That is, there is something about the “type,” even within the Old Testament itself, that anticipates a fuller realization elsewhere. In this post I would like to follow up on that just a bit and see […]

Hermeneutics & Biblical Theology Fred Zaspel | July 11, 2013

The Nature of Biblical “Types”

This article first appeared on credomag.com We saw last time that “typology” is that study of Scripture which understands certain Old Testament events, persons, and institutions as historical and yet symbolic anticipations — or previews, prefigurements — of realities later realized in the New Testament. In that post I sought to establish the Biblical warrant […]