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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For a decade and a half in the middle of the twentieth century, two scientists, James McConnell and Georges Ungar attempted to determine whether memories can be transferred chemically from one organism to another. No one believes anymore that this can be done, but that’s not, according to Harry Collins…
Luigi Giussani ( The Risk of Education: Discovering Our Ultimate Destiny ) say that “we experience authority when we meet someone who possesses a full awareness of reality, who imposes on us a recognition and arouses surprise, novelty, and respect.” Authority in this sense attracts: “There is an inevitable attraction…
Atheist and immanentist, Gilles Deleuze seems to be fairly useless for theology. But Christopher Ben Simpson is able to mine some ore in his Deleuze and Theology , even for theology proper: “The Trinity is ‘the Christian multiple’ as ‘an absolute that is itself difference,’ names ‘divine difference, gives ‘the…
There are four fourfold keys to understanding the gospels, argues Eduardo Olaguer, Jr., in The Power of Four: Keys to the Hidden Treasures of the Gospels : the faces of the cherubim, four groups of Old Testament books, four maps, four treasures of seven symbols. Following tradition, he lines up…
An essay in appreciation of Alexander Schmemann at the Trinity House site this morning.
John 14:12; 16:7: Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father . . . . It is good that I go away. Despite the…
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