Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Summary In what follows, I will consider the “year-stamps” employed in Scripture, i.e., statements of the form, “Such-and-such an event took place in the Xth year of Y.” In the process, I will suggest some ways in which the Biblical narrative might relate to events in the extra-Biblical world, though…
In the first essay on the parable of the Prodigal Son, I suggested that the problems commentators and others encounter in interpreting Jesus three-part parable are not accidental. These are not just problems in our ignorance of cultural background. They are intentional features of the stories —stories designed to poke…
The story of the Prodigal Son is perhaps the most well-known story in the Bible. As others have observed, it may also be one of the most misunderstood. In two short essays, I will point out features of this story that are commonly neglected, aspects of Jesus’ parable that might…
The parable of Lazarus and the nameless rich man is not an independent story. It is part of a long context that begins in Luke 15:1, where Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners and the scribes and Pharisees grumble. In response to their hardheartedness, Jesus tells a three-part…
The Bible is written so that even when a reader cannot pick up on what might be deeper or more detailed aspects of a text, there is virtually always a message to be heard. In the ancient world, where the “reader” of Scripture would likely be a church official facing…
The distinction between garden (or vineyard) and field begins in Genesis 2. This relates to the ordering of the formless world. Plants of the field are contrasted with the garden planted by God in Genesis 2:5&8. Later on, under the Old Covenant the Israelites will be required to keep their…
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Robert Filmer, Locke’s main opponent in his First Treatise , nails the flaw in Hobbes’s theory concerning the state of nature: “I cannot understand how this right of nature can be conceived without imagining a company of men at the very first to have been all created together without any…
According to Laurie Bagby ( Thomas Hobbes: Turning Point for Honor , 5-7 ), Hobbes sets out to “deconstruct” the idea of honor by collapsing it “into what he calls ‘vainglory’ or harmful ‘pride.’” That’s well and good, depending of course on what we mean by the word “honor.” What…
A mediation for the baptism of my third granddaughter, June Annwyn Marie Tollefson. Ephesians 5:8: You were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the world; walk as children of Light. It’s a good Sunday for a baptism. In many churches, today, the third Sunday of Advent, is Gaudete…
1 John 1:5: This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. We sin because of unbelief, and unbelief is distrust. Adam sinned when he became convinced that God was withholding the fruit…
Advent celebrates the coming of day. The Light that lightens every man comes into the world to break the gloom that hangs over Israel and the nations. Zecharias sings, “The Sunrise from on high has visited us.” Night is past; Dawn has come. You’d think everyone would be glad, but…
Athenian democracy was an effort to dislodge political power from the tangles of patronage. Athenians viewed dependence as virtual slavery, and created institutional structures to prevent indebtedness - real and symbolic. Many of these structures ensured rule by the demos in their various citizen assemblies. But that did not, of…
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