Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
I mentioned last month ( BH 82) in my essay "Like a Dove" that Genesis 8 is a recapitulation of Genesis 1. Let me explicate that assertion here. Of course, the world after the Flood is a new creation, so we may expect a recapitulation of the first creation. It…
The book of Esther is one of the most neglected of the books of the Bible. To be sure, sermons are preached on it, and commentaries have occasionally been written on it, but almost without exception Esther has been interpreted in isolation from the rest of Biblical history, chronology, and…
Dear Mr. ______, . . . Here is how I look at the geocentricity question. Since I don’t recall what I wrote you before, I may be repeating some things. 1. The Bible does not teach it. Biblical passages used to support the idea are being misinterpreted. My original paper…
Answer 4 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is often taken as a magnificent answer to the question, "What is God?" It reads: "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth." Presbyterians are fond of praising this statement, preaching on it,…
The gospels tell us that at Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him "in bodily form like a dove" (Luke 3:22 & parallels). Biblically sensitive commentators have associated this event with three Old Testament parallels: (1) the hovering of the Spirit over the creation in Genesis 1:2; (2) the…
This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. (John 8:6) The story of the woman taken in adultery (John 7:53-8:11) has been part of the canonical Christian Bible from its earliest…
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W illiam Giraldi really doesn't like being mistaken for a Catholic novelist . And he doesn't much like Catholic novels of Graham Greene or of the later Walker Percy because they are too Catholic, too guided by dogma. He does like Flannery O'Connor and even though he wants to retain…
In their 1994 study of mainline decline, Vanishing Boundaries , Dean Hoge and associates offered evidence in support of Dean Kelley's thesis ( Why Conservative Churches Are Growing ). Kelley claimed that churches grow when they are “strong,” that is, when they have clear doctrinal beliefs, demand commitment, and enforce…
When Babylon the great city falls, all the inhabitants are driven out. No human sights or sounds are left - whether of music, of labor, of commerce, or of a wedding celebration (Revelation 18:22-23). But the city is inhabited by three sets of citizens: demons, unclean spirits, and unclean birds…
Clothing metaphors have long been associated in Protestantism with imputed righteousness: “Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness / My beauty are, my spotless dress.” Being “clothed with Christ” is definitely a New Testament metaphor, and the image of being “clothed in the Spirit” has deep roots in the Old Testament. In…
T he confusion about marriage in contemporary America is profound. It's a confusion about the very roots of marriage. Few confusions are more basic than the notion that marriage is essentially a matter of freedom. Scripturally, the opposite is true. Marriage is a form of bondage. Paul alludes to this…
We are awash in Lolitas - Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry. As Ira Wells says in a New Republic piece , “at a certain echelon of pop music megastardom . . . they are all Lolitas now.” Yet Wells insists that as the number of Lolitas has risen exponentially,…
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