The BibleMesh team often attends academic conferences, like we did in the recorded video below. But what is the point of such conferences, and how do we remain focused on forming students in the “Three Greats” when such conferences often seem disconnected or unhelpful for personal faith and serving God’s mission in the world?   In this article, we look at several reasons why academic conferences can be beneficial, as well as offer some thoughts on why they often fall short of this.   Why academic conferences?  Academic conferences are where scholars and attendees ..read more

Andy Gemmill, current MA in Theology student, has the unique perspective of not only being a student but also overseeing a cohort of students taught in collaboration with a pastors training course in Cornhill, Scotland. Andy lives in Glasgow and is in the dissertation phase. Serving as a pastor who also previously had a career in healthcare, he offers his perspective on the programme as someone in ministry, returning to higher education, and in charge of training others for ministry. Below are his insights from a recorded interview with programme coordinator Dr. Dennis Greeson. Who is th ..read more

Sign up now for an 8-session weekly book club working through Carl Trueman’s Strange New World. For $49.99, you get the digital book together with chapter videos and audio narration from the author. Dr. Dennis Greeson will add additional commentary for each chapter and lead a weekly 1-hour Zoom session to discuss the big ideas and main concepts. Find Out More We live in a disorienting world. What many took for granted just a few decades ago as clear right and wrong is now reviled and rejected as harmful and repressive. How did we get to this place in which sexual identity rules everyt ..read more

This post has been adapted from a recorded interview with BibleMesh Institute Teaching Fellow Dr. Gregory Soderberg. Tell us about yourself. I have been a teacher my whole career. When I was in high school, I was involved in acting, and taking acting lessons from an older actor who had been in some films. God changed my direction and sidelined those plans. Instead, I ended up getting a degree in the liberal arts. But what I learned was that teaching is a form of acting. Whether it’s 6 am in the morning or you’re tired after a long day—as a teacher you’re always faced with the task of anima ..read more

This essay is the first in a series considering various aspects of philosophy and apologetics. Shawn Langley is a Research Fellow with the BibleMesh Institute.   The term apologetics is often heard in Christian circles, but what does it really mean? We can gain a clearer sense of what an apologetic should entail by first looking at the biblical context giving rise to the concept. After this we will be able to outline some defining characteristics of how we defend our faith.  One of the most commonly cited passages in connection with apologetics is 1 Peter 3:15. Here Peter tells ..read more

Crawford Gribben, Professor of Early Modern British History at Queen’s University Belfast, is one of the organisers of the International John Owen Convention being hosted by Union Theological College, Belfast, in June 2024.  There aren’t many early modern literary figures – never mind theologians – who are getting as much attention as John Owen. Long regarded as difficult, Owen is the subject of a rapidly growing array of doctoral theses, scholarly articles, popular introductions, monographs, and handbooks. Long regarded as obscure, he is becoming ever more popular as a devotional wr ..read more

This post is part of an ongoing series exploring Biblical theology. Tim Bertolet is a Research Fellow with the BibleMesh Institute. As a committed evangelical, one thing I find incredibly discouraging is how the debates of the age of the earth and the meaning of “day” in Genesis 1, have become a distraction that have kept us from paying attention to theological elements in the text that would have been far more contentious to the original audience. While we need to take all of God’s Word seriously, I cannot help but find us majoring on the minors and minoring on the major points ..read more

This post is part of an ongoing series exploring Biblical theology. Tim Bertolet is a Research Fellow with the BibleMesh Institute. At least since John Calvin, theologians and Bible scholars have identified three offices of Jesus that he carries out in his humanity. They are prophet, priest, and king. These are offices that Jesus exemplifies in the incarnation as part of his mediatorial work between God and his people. While the Son is king according to the divine nature in the way that God is king, his office of kingship in the New Testament is a fulfillment of the messianic ro ..read more

This essay is part of an ongoing series considering various aspects of the relationship between theology and philosophy. Shawn Langley is a Research Fellow with the BibleMesh Institute. Our last discussion looked at one question and two traditions that help us better understand the way theological tools have been and continue to be applied within a distinctively philosophical environment. We saw how the history of philosophy has ultimately been concerned with overcoming the fear of death through the power of human reason. And we introduced two primary traditions that have informed this pur ..read more

This essay is part of an ongoing series considering various aspects of the relationship between theology and philosophy. Shawn Langley is a Research Fellow with the BibleMesh Institute.   Philosophy and theology are always intertwined. This is perhaps most clear when it comes to questions of method: how do we interpret what the Bible says or how do we arrive at the doctrines we should believe? While our study of biblical teaching often looks much like an attempt to accumulate as many individual doctrines, such as the Trinity or baptism, with as much accuracy and clarity as possible, t ..read more