Justin Holcomb

Justin Holcomb

Justin Holcomb is a pastor at Mars Hill Church, where he serves as executive director of Resurgence. He is also Adjunct Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Reformed Theological Seminary. Justin wrote On the Grace of God. He and his wife, Lindsey, are the authors of Rid of My Disgrace: Hope and Healing for Victims of Sexual Assault. He is also the editor of Christian Theologies of Scripture: A Comparative Introduction. You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, and JustinHolcomb.com.
 

May

16

2013

Justin Holcomb|12:01 AM CT

Why the Rising Social Awareness in the Church Should Encourage Us
Why the Rising Social Awareness in the Church Should Encourage Us avatar

Recently, we have begun to see an encouraging trend in Christian circles: a greater awareness of violence and oppression (such as human trafficking), as well as an increased concern for rescuing and caring for victims. We are seeing an explosion of attention to social justice issues in organizations like Passion, International Justice Mission, and the World Evangelical Alliance, and with the publication of books like God in a Brothel and The White Umbrella. Everywhere you look, churches, parachurch organizations, and individual Christians are waking up to the hidden world of injustice, violence, abuse, and slavery around us—and taking action.

The Bible does not hesitate to depict the harsh reality of violence and oppression, and in fact God's people are clearly called to fight for justice and mercy for all people. Throughout the...

 
 
 
 

Oct

18

2012

Justin Holcomb|10:00 PM CT

Theologian Hero to a Nation
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How many theologians can claim a national holiday in their honor? The 19th-century Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper had such great influence in the Netherlands that the entire nation celebrated his 70th birthday in 1907.

Kuyper was a man of many hats: statesman, politician, educator, preacher, churchman, theologian, and philosopher. He was a modern-day Renaissance man who participated in the cultural conversation of his day. While Kuyper's influence has been felt throughout the 20th century in the Dutch Calvinist branch of the Reformed church, his influence has expanded as scholars continue to mine his writings for resources to deal with the challenges of a public theology for the contemporary world.

Life of Reform


Abraham Kuyper was born to a middle-class pastor's family in the remote fishing village of Maasluis, Netherlands, on October 29, 1837.

As a young boy,...

 
 
 
 

Oct

09

2012

Justin Holcomb|10:00 PM CT

Vast Learning, Ageless Wisdom
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His name, until recently, would be unrecognized by most people even within the church. So it may be surprising that J. I. Packer would say about Herman Bavinck: "Like Augustine, Calvin, and Edwards, Bavinck was a man of giant mind, vast learning, ageless wisdom, and great expository skill." Any name put on a short list with Augustine, Calvin, and Edwards certainly deserves attention. But theologian Richard Gaffin goes a step further than Packer, calling Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics, "Arguably the most important systematic theology ever produced in the Reformed tradition."

These are high praises, and to understand why they are not simply hyperbolic statements made to sell books, we need to examine the life and thought of Herman Bavinck.

Bavinck's Background


Bavinck was born on December 13, 1854, in Hoogeveen, in the Netherlands, and he died...

 
 
 
 

Oct

03

2012

Justin Holcomb|10:00 PM CT

Pillar of Faith in an Innovative Age
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Not all theologians are innovative, groundbreaking, or revolutionary. Some, like Louis Berkhof, merely serve God, love the church, and teach theology to eager students. Yet as Henry Zwaanstra writes, "No theologian or churchman has made a greater impact on the Christian Reformed Church than Professor Berkhof." As a result, the life and work of Louis Berkhof deserves attention.

Louis Berkhof was born in Emmen, in the Netherlands, in 1873. His parents, Jan and Gessje, were members of the Christian Reformed Church, a denomination formed out of a split from the Netherlands Reformed Church in 1834. In 1882, the Berkhof family emigrated to Grand Rapids, Michigan, when Louis was 8 years old.

While a teenager, Louis was the secretary of the Reformed Young Men's Society in Grand Rapids, an organization whose purpose was "to study Reformed...

 
 
 
 

Sep

24

2012

Justin Holcomb|10:00 PM CT

Two Major Streams of Reformed Theology
Two Major Streams of Reformed Theology avatar

Have you heard of the "other Reformed theology"? Many in the Reformed resurgence only know one aspect of the broad historical stream of Reformed theology, and sadly, many stereotypes of "Calvinism" exist because John Calvin's legacy has been unknowingly truncated.

Too often, Reformed theology is defined merely by the "five points of Calvinism": total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints. While this emphasis on how God saves sinners has value, it fails to capture the full breadth of the heritage of Reformed thought.

Two major streams of Reformed theology developed out of the work of John Calvin: the Scottish Calvinist stream and the Dutch Reformed stream. The Scottish tradition has a strong focus on doctrines of salvation and the ordo salutis (order of salvation). But the Dutch...

 
 
 
 

Aug

06

2012

Justin Holcomb|10:00 PM CT

Jesus' Church Is Here to Stay
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The famously influential Nicene Creed contains a line that modern Christians sometimes misunderstand:  "I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church." The word "catholic" can be a source of confusion for those who think it is referring to the Roman Catholic Church, but the word simply means "universal." This leads us, then, to consider the important theological concept of the "universal church."

The term commonly used for the church in the New Testament is the Greek word ekklesia. Jesus is the first to use the word ekklesia in the New Testament (Matt. 16:18), but it is used in various ways with various meanings. As theologian Louis Berkhof explains, ekklesia can have the following meanings:

  • A specific local group of Christians or a local church (Acts 11:26; 1 Cor. 11:18; Gal. 1:2).

  • A house church (Rom. 16:23; 1 Cor. 16:19;
...

 
 
 
 

Jul

08

2012

Justin Holcomb|10:00 PM CT

Our Father of Fathers
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Most people are quite familiar with the concept of God as Father. The modernist progressive theology of the last few centuries popularized the concept of the "universal fatherhood of God" along with the "brotherhood of man." However, if we look at Scripture we might be surprised at what we find about the fatherhood of God.

The Father of Israel



God is rarely referred to as Father in the Old Testament. When he is, it is usually in the sense that he is the Father of the nation of Israel (e.g., Deut 32:6), a term that primarily conveys a sense of authority. As the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament explains,
In the Israelite family, the father has almost unlimited authority. He is master of the house; the children
...

 
 
 
 

May

23

2012

Justin Holcomb|10:00 PM CT

Grace All the Way
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There is a damaging idea floating around that says, "God saved you, now what are you going to do for him?" This is a recipe for failure. If you come to the Christian life believing you can do anything for God in your own strength or repay him on any level, you fall back to the self-dependent spiritual death from which Jesus saved you.

Ephesians 2 frees us from this lie by showing that the Christian life is completely fueled by God's grace. The chapter is filled with the high-octane gospel of grace for both our justification and also our sanctification. It begins with how believers were dead in their sins, then moves to how God loved us and rescued us from this death by his grace, bringing salvation to all in Christ, uniting Jews and Gentiles as one people in whom the Spirit of God dwells. The first half of...

 
 
 
 

May

17

2012

Justin Holcomb|12:01 AM CT

James Cone: Black Theology, Liberation, and Reconciliation
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Editor's Note: Recently, CNN's Belief Blog discussed the significance of James Cone's theology in an article, "America's 'angriest' theologian faces the lynching tree." Today, on the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, we describe the nature and influence of Cone's theology---not to commend his project but to promote understanding.


One of the most significant days in the history of the United States was May 17, 1954, when the nation acknowledged oppressing its own people. Brown v. Board of Education was more than a legal case to be tallied in law books; it intended to close a hideous chapter in our history, marked by slavery, bigotry, boldfaced discrimination, violence, and terror. The verdict in Brown v. Board of Education was not just a decision---it was the beginning of a revolution.

The civil-rights movement of the past generation began with black Americans but spread, with major consequences, to a variety of...

 
 
 
 

Apr

30

2012

Justin Holcomb|10:00 PM CT

The Ultimate Theophany
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The topic of theophany is often neglected in biblical and theological studies, though it is very important. Theophanies are instances of divine self-revelation in which God manifests himself to humans (the word "theophany," which means "appearance of God," comes from the Greek roots theo [God] and phaino [to appear]). While theophanies occur in different forms in Scripture, the content of a theophany is always the same. Theophanies consistently show God graciously revealing himself and his covenantal promises to his people.

Types of Theophanies



Mosaic Theophanies: No figure in Scripture had as many encounters with God through theophanies as Moses. God appeared to Moses in the fire of a burning bush (Ex. 3:1-6), causing Moses to hide his face. At Mt. Sinai, Moses went up to the mountaintop to worship God. He saw God...