Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Summary : The Bible is a multi-faceted text. As a result, it can fruitfully be analyzed in many ways. Pace, context, flow, imagery: all of these aspects of the Biblical text are significant and instructive. Here, by way of illustration, I analyze Gen. 38 in a range of different ways,…
Summary: The Bible is a multi-faceted text. As a result, it can fruitfully be analysed in many ways. Pace, context, flow, imagery: all of these aspects of the Biblical text are significant and instructive. Here, by way of illustration, I analyse Gen. 38 in a range of different ways, and…
The closing chapters of the Bible bring to fulfillment the mission inaugurated in the opening chapters of the Bible: the dwelling place of God expands to fill the entire new creation. The story of Scripture concludes having achieved God’s original intent for His people in the Garden of Eden, and…
Oddly, the nature of pre -modern economies plays a central role in today’s policy debate over economic globalization and neo-liberalism. Analysts take ancient non-market economies as the standard against which to measure the economic and social effects of the market system. Scholars compare the distribution of economic goods and services…
In part one of this essay, I mentioned that the story of Zacchaeus includes not only many details that point to other passages in Luke, but also details that point to the Old Testament, though we might not initially think of them. The first detail I have in mind is…
The story of Zacchaeus includes numerous interesting details that link this story with others in the Gospel of Luke. There are also details that tie the story of Zacchaeus to the Old Testament in ways that we might not initially take note of. In the Gospel of Luke, the story…
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Many complain today about the negativity of the Ten Words. Sure, there are a few positive commandments – remember the Sabbath day, honor your Father and mother. Mostly, though, it’s a list of “Don’ts.” Don’t have other gods, don’t serve images, don’t bear My name lightly, don’t kill, steal, commit…
Israel has been in the wilderness for three months when they arrive at Sinai (Exodus 19:1). Behind them are the ruins of Egypt, devastated by plagues. They have passed through the sea, received manna and water in the wilderness. They have grumbled and rebelled. And now they come to the…
David Powlison investigates how the social sciences, especially psychology, can coherently hold together the moral demand for personal responsibility, the fact of social conditioning, and the experience that we are victims of forces beyond our control. As he puts the question: I am responsible for my sins: 'Johnny is a…
Edward L. Greenstein's contribution to The Decalogue in Jewish and Christian Tradition examines the rhetoric of the Ten Words. He raises the question of the order of the first two commandments. Traditions differ. "In the later Jewish tradition, 'I am YHWH your God' is the first commandment, and 'You are…
In Acts 8, Luke offers the first glimpse of the international scope of the gospel. Its setting in Acts is significant. Everything in Luke’s Gospel moves toward Jerusalem. The “infancy” narratives conclude with twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple, listening and teaching (Luke 2:41-51). Between Luke 9 and 19, Jesus marches…
Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) argues that the "Catholic concept" of sacrament arises from an understanding of the Bible, especially of the relation of the Old and New ( Theology of the Liturgy , 177-8). He writes, "the Catholic concept of sacramentum is based on the 'typological' interpretation of Scripture -…
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