Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Who were the company of singers who sang in the Temple built by Solomon? I think many people might answer “the Levitical singers.” That is not correct, because the Levites were not allowed inside the Temple; only the priests were. The Levitical choir and orchestra performed for Yahweh outside the…
Dear Congregation, Social media is awash with rants for and against the ruling from the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) yesterday regarding homosexual marriage ( Obergefell v. Hodges ). My contribution on Facebook was simply to quote relevant sections of the dissents written by the four judges in the minority. Even though…
After the Civil War, the hobbled nation and fractured races looked about for leadership; animosity was high and envy was crouching at the door. Booker Taliaferro Washington, up from slavery, surveyed the rising tension and injustice, foreseeing civil unrest and chafing inequalities, eschewed, remarkably, a legislative remedy and advised a…
The ruling on Obergefell v. Hodges “came down” on Friday morning, June 26, 2015, like a bolt from Zeus. Many who refuse to bow to the dictates of our Olympians will write trenchant legal, theological, and cultural/political analyses of the court’s ruling. What I’m comfortable contributing to the historical record,…
Orthodox Christianity has lost all cultural potency in the U.S. No one defending traditional marriage before the court dared raise the fundamental question: Who creates marriage, God or the state? Theology has no public standing, no persuasive force in the culture at large. Obergefell is another nail in the coffin…
One will rarely come upon a classical allusion in a Robert Frost poem. His poetic scheme was to follow the speaking patterns of common folk, to use their words and images to achieve his point. Despite this simplicity, there is a depth and richness to his poetry that can be…
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Revelation uses the verb “descend” ( katabaino ) ten times, often with the specification that something descends “from heaven.” Cities come down from the sky, and angels, and dragons, and fire. The ten uses of the verb are in a fairly neat chiastic pattern: A. New Jerusalem will descend, 3:12…
More grist for the discussion of Protestantism and writing, taken from my review of Lori Branch, Rituals of Spontaneity . See the whole review here . Focusing on English literary culture and religion, Branch examines the formation of an “ideology of spontaneity” from the Reformation attacks on ritual through Puritan…
“We must continue to develop nonmythological narratives that synthesize and interpret our experience. These narratives must be based on the facts as we currently know them,” argues Scott Gustafson in At the Altar of Wall Street . He thinks Marx and Schumpeter offer some coordinates for a “demythologizing” of economics…
What does Trump do if he loses the Iowa caucuses today? asks Michael Kruse over at Politico . Kruse says that he will do what he always does: “He will deny and distort and belittle his critics and change the subject. He will say that he won.” Paul Holmes, who…
Twice in Revelation, John sees a rider on a white horse. The first comes in response to a call from the lion cherub and the Lamb's opening of the first seal (Revelation 6:1-2). He is alone, has a bow and receives a crown as he goes out conquering and to…
My two-part essay on why Protestants can't write got a lot more attention last week than it did when first published in Credenda/Agenda . Clarifications are in order. Behind the bluster, bombast, and hyperbole of the essay lie an assumption, an assertion, and an argument. The assumption is that liturgy…
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