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“No Hate Was Being Preached” Praying in a Burnt Church, Minya, Egypt
“No hate was being preached: ‘This will teach us to be better Christians.’” Sunday morning a Dutch and Belgian television crew attended the service in a burnt church in Minya (250 km / 160 miles south of Cairo): the Gad al-Seed evangelical presbyterian church of my former master student and friend pastor Sameh Ibrahim, about…
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“Death Where Is Your Sting?” Photos Burnt Church in Minya, Egypt
One of the burnt churches in Egypt I visited several times: the evangelical presbyterian Gad al-Sayed church in Abou Hilal in the city of Minya, some 250 km (160 miles) south of Cairo. Last years the pews looked like this: Now like this: My youngest brother visited this church as well: Left on this picture…
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Walter Brueggemann on the Name in Psalm 146
One of the remarkable features of Psalm 146 is the fivefold repetition of the name of the Lord in verses 7c–9(a). The famous Old Testament theologian Walter Brueggemann remarks: Then the psalm names the Name five times (vv. 7b–9). In naming the Name, the psalm under its breath debunks and dismisses every other name: The…
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Who Was ‘Ammār al-Baṣrī and What Did He Say?
If I told you that ‘Ammār al-Baṣrī was Egypt’s most famous football (soccer) player in the twentieth century, you as a typical Western reader would believe me on my word. But he was not. Again, if I told you that ‘Ammār al-Baṣrī was a minister under Saddam Hussein, you would believe me on my word.…
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Theology of Theological Education
In his article “The Theology of Theological Education,” Brian Edgar distinguishes the following types of theological education: The Athens type “stresses the role of the academy in transformating the life of the individual.” The Berlin type “represents a university model which focuses on the need to competent professionals to strengthen the life of the church.”…
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Bavinck and the Christian Family
Het christelijk huisgezin (The Christian Family) is one of the lesser known works of the Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck (1854–1921). I remember that when I borrowed it from a university library some years ago, the librarian looked at the title and said something like: “Such a book reminds us of the good old days, but…
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Literature about Herman Bavinck
At some point, those interested in the Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck (1854–1921) would also like to read what others have written about him. The following are some helpful starting points for finding literature about Herman Bavinck: Eric D. Bristley, Guide to the Writings of Herman Bavinck, with an essay by John Bolt (Grand Rapids, MI:…
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Herman Bavinck Bibliography
Those interested in the works of the Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck (1854-1921) will usually consult the following bibliographies: The Bavinck bibliography of the Neo-Calvinism Research Institute at https://sources.neocalvinism.org/bavinck/, which includes the full text of many of Bavinck’s works. (The Herman Bavinck Archive is also online accessible through the website of this institute.) Eric D. Bristley,…
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Paul Witteman and the Scholarly Status of Theology
Paul Witteman, a Dutch television presenter, recently denied the scholarly status of theology in a column. Several of my Twitter friends in the Netherlands reacted to the column and the Christian newspaper Reformatorisch Dagblad published an article about it. Having struggled myself with some of the issues that Witteman addresses, let me make a modest…
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Why Did Bavinck Study Theology in Leiden?
Why did Herman Bavinck (1854–1921) as a son of the Secession (“de Afscheiding” [1834]) study theology under modern, liberal theologians in Leiden? David J. Engelsma, “Herman Bavinck: The Man and His Theology,” Protestant Reformed Theological Journal 46 (2012), 12–13, writes about this question: The explanation of Bavinck’s seeking theological education at Leiden is what the…
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James Eglinton’s Book on Bavinck’s Organic Motif
In a recent interview, Laurence O’Donnell of the Bavinck Institute in Grand Rapids asked me to speak a bit about Herman Bavinck studies in America and the Netherlands. As for the latter, while I mentioned the names of Henk van den Belt, Hans Burger, George Harinck, Dirk van Keulen, and Jan Veenhof, and did not…
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Bavinck’s Manuscript “De mensch, Gods evenbeeld”
In his study Restored to Our Destiny: Eschatology & the Image of God in Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics (Studies in Reformed Theology 21; Leiden: Brill, 2012), Brian G. Mattson speaks in a footnote on page 114 about Herman Bavinck’s “virtually unknown 1884 address, ‘De Mensch, Gods Evenbeeld’” (Man, the Image of God) and refers to…
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4Q521 Messianic Apocalypse Bibliography
A bibliography of publications (published between 1991 and 2012) on the so-called “Messianic Apocalypse” (Dead Sea Scroll 4Q521).
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Obedience and Theological Education
This week, the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo had a very inspiring four-day seminar on theological education led by Dr. Perry Shaw of Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Libanon. In one of the first sessions, Dr. Perry Shaw drew attention tot the verb “to obey” in the Great Commission: All authority in heaven and on…
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The Riddle of Successful Traditional Lectures
This week, the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo (ECTS) had a very inspiring four-day seminar on theological education led by Dr. Perry Shaw of Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS) in Libanon. Cartoons of boring lecturers and sleeping students, research results that the attention of a listener has a first peak of only ten minutes and…
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Willem-Jan de Wit 