Author Archives: Leah Bruneau

Augustine’s Critique of Stoicism Then and Now

Jesus and Seneca were likely born the same year. The Gospel of John begins by highlighting the Stoic idea of the Logos. And Paul quotes from a Stoic poet when engaging Greek philosophers on the Areopagus in Acts 17. Clearly New Testament Christians lived in a society tuned in to Stoic philosophy.[1] If there is […]


Steller to Receive Honorary Doctorate

Bethlehem College and Seminary Salutes Founding Leader   The Board of Trustees of Bethlehem College and Seminary has unanimously approved President Brian J. Tabb’s recommendation that the school confer the degree of Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) honoris causa on Tom Steller. The conferral is to take place during annual commencement ceremonies scheduled for Friday, May […]


Onward

__________________________________________________________   This is my first letter to you as President of Bethlehem College and Seminary. It is a sobering yet sweet assignment to serve this school that I love. I am ready and eager to lead us onward with God’s help, confident that our best years are ahead. In that hope, I am writing […]


The Usefulness of the Apostles’ Creed

The Apostles’ Creed I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord; who was conceived of the Holy Spirit; was born of the virgin Mary; he suffered under Pontius Pilate, he was crucified; died and was buried, he descended into hell; on the […]


Why Did Melchizedek Bring Out Bread and Wine?

Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) —Genesis 14:18 Is it significant that Melchizedek brought out bread and wine? Might that be connected to the death of Jesus the Messiah? Before I answer those questions, let’s first get our bearings about Melchizedek. Getting Our Bearings about Melchizedek […]


The Meals of Life upon Pillars Lie

To sleep, to snore, to yearn for morn; To rise, to yawn, to break my fast; The food I dreamt no more forlorn; Yet soon it’s noon and morn is past. To jump, to play, to nap a while; And then to wake, for lunch is set. “All done.” Let’s play, let’s run a mile. […]


Henry Martyn: A Student of the Great Books in Light of the Greatest Book for the Sake of the Great Commission

Twenty-first century American evangelicals can be excused for not knowing the name of Henry Martyn (1781-1812)—a paedo-baptist Anglican who was employed as a chaplain for the East India Company and whose ministry in India and Persia encompassed just six years before his death due to sickness at age thirty-one. But his formation and ministry provide […]


City Wonder

Sometimes I wonder– Is there beauty in the city? Slush, muck, trash, filth, Shouts, needles, squished, gray. It doesn’t take a genius to see That the city takes a toll on its People. But sometimes I wonder– About the old pine out front: It bends under snow like a Highway exit, and when I think […]


Portraits of Conversion: Augustine, the Prodigal Son, and Me

The great Dutch theologian, Herman Bavinck, must have had Augustine in mind when he wrote, “The heart of man was created for God and it cannot find rest until it rests in his Father’s heart. And all men are really seeking after God, but they do not seek him in the right way nor at […]


Suffering Unjustly for Our Joy

“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.” (1 Peter 4:1–2) For what are […]