Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The Blessing of the Father The narrative of the Exodus makes it clear that Yahweh is Israel’s Father. Moses is told to declare to Pharaoh that “Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve me’” (Exodus 4:22-23). In contrast to…
When reading the Old Testament, the believer faces two dilemmas. First, there is a seemingly sharp discontinuity between the universal proclamation of the gospel to the whole earth and God’s singling out of the nation of Israel. Second, the New Testament says of Jesus that “there is no other name…
John 17 contains the longest prayer that we have from Jesus, and it shows us the intimate relationship between the Father and the Son in a way that few passages do. The prayer lays out the chiastic pattern noted by Athanasius (God became man so that man could become God),…
The following meditation on the incarnation is paraphrased and quoted from Karl Barth, The Doctrine of Reconciliation (Church Dogmatics, Vol. 4, Part 1) , pp. 185ff. In the incarnation, the eternal Son of God makes His way into a far country, and takes on the form of a servant. “But…
Peter says "baptism saves you" (1 Peter 3:21). Does the New Testament teach that "baptism justifies you"? I think the answer is Yes. That's a controversial answer, and demands some defense and explanation, but first some critical qualifications. No New Testament text states "baptism justifies you," so my argument will…
In his THI article “ Son of David, Son of Abraham ,” Peter Leithart notes that Matthew's genealogy “contains a summary of redemptive history.” This statement is only too true and one that deserves further elucidation. Biblos genese ō s. The first two words of Matthew's Gospel are usually translated…
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We instinctively think that what’s most real or true is what has always been the case. Timeless truth means truth that was already true at the dawn of time. That’s a big problem. It means that nothing that emerges in time is fully real or true. It’s true, only in…
Obama’s achievement is truly a milestone in American history, and should be celebrated as such. He is an impressive man in many ways. But he will not be elected President. The reason is not race, as Noemie Emery argues in the June 23 issue of the Weekly Standard . (Emery,…
PROVERBS 22:3 Like many Proverbs, this one treats wisdom and prudence as a matter of foresight. The imagery is of a pathway along which the prudent and the foolish are walking. The prudent sees trouble/evil ahead, and avoids it, while the naïve simpleton keeps going, stumbles right into trouble, and…
Mead thinks that each emerging moment changes the past. It’s difficult to see how it could be otherwise. This doesn’t mean that the directionality of the past is an illusion or reversible. Things done cannot be undone. But what those things are and mean changes as time moves along. The…
Abstract time is (Anthony Giddens says) “pure duration, as disconnected from the materiality of experience.” This comes to be seen as “real, ‘objective’ time” because “it is expressed in a universal and public mode.” This is helpful. 2 PM Pacific Time, June 18, 2008 means millions of specific things to…
“Abstract” time often has reference to durations of time, particularly in relation to economic activity. If I work a 40-hour week for a set wage, I get paid the same no matter what I do or don’t accomplish in that time. In the account books, there’s just the number of…
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