Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
John 18:1-11 appears on the surface to be a straightforward, if somewhat unusual, narrative of Jesus’ arrest by officers of the chief priests and Pharisees accompanied by an apparently large group of Roman soldiers, all of them led by the betrayer, Judas. But there is much more here than what…
Why is the US embroiled in the Middle East? There are two primary answers: Oil and Israel. Both are fairly intractable problems, the latter in significant part because of the unique convergence of theology and politics that has forged American policy in the region. Dispensationalists insist that we must bless…
There’s a common theme that arises in the study of theologians James B. Jordan and Peter Leithart. It is this: Context matters. Details matter. This is God’s Word. The details are not arbitrary “filler” hiding the kernel of truth in the husk of the text. The husk and the kernel…
Perhaps the most fearful of all possibilities in the world is the possibility of betrayal on the part of someone who is in a “position of trust.” This, unfortunately, is the first block in what ought to be the foundation of every marriage in the world. Every woman has a…
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The way we talk about the world matters. Our doctrine of creation tells us that words do not simply reflect reality. They also shape it and the way we inhabit it. Among the world’s many language groups, the Church is distinct. She is called to name things with Scriptural language,…
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The Hebrew in Deuteronomy 4:16-18 appears repetitive. After reminding Israel that they saw no form or likeness ( temunah ) on Sinai, Moses warns them not to “act corruptly” by making a graven image ( pesel ) of any likeness ( temunah ). A pesel of a temunah is presumably…
Homosexuality is one of the key public issues confronting today'sAmerican pastors. Nearly every pastor will counsel someone battling homosexual desires or actively engaged in a homosexual lifestyle. Compassionate, firm counsel is the least of the challenges. As the gay marriage movement makes headway, there has been subtle but relentless pressure…
During Advent, my pastor, Rich Lusk, preached on Zephaniah. A couple of his sermons are relevant to current debates concerning Christian nationalism ( here and here ). Rich’s text was Zephaniah 3, and he focused attention on verse 9: “For then I will give to the peoples purified lips, that…
Ecclesiocentrism is both a theoretical framework and a practical agenda for a Christian politics after liberalism. THEORY 1. The gospel is an inherently political message, announcing the Lordship and Kingship of Jesus. 2. Christian political theory is ecclesiology. Or, more moderately, no political theory can be Christian without a central…
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died in his residence at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in Vatican City on December 31, 2022, aged 95. He was Pope from 2005 until his surprise resignation in 2013. Earlier in life, Joseph Ratzinger was an academic theologian and Archbishop of Munich, and immediately prior to…
Yahweh declares Adam alone is “not good” (Genesis 2:18). His solution is a fresh act of making. He deliberated over the creation of man with a “Let us” (1:26). He resorts again to the first person as He declares His intention to create woman: “I will make” (2:18). “Let us”…
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