Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
“We have a God who hides things because He loves to be sought out, chewed out and found out.” As Christians, we are rightly taught that we must not question God’s Word. The problem is that the Scriptures record many things which appear to have been given to us for…
The book of Revelation is a liturgy. John begins “in the Spirit” on the “Lord’s day” (1:10). Jesus appears, and Jesus tells him to record messages to seven churches, words of encouragement and rebuke, like the call to worship and confession at the beginning of a Christian liturgy. In chapter…
In my previous posts, I looked at the theme of creation as it is found in a sequence of psalms devoted to Yahweh’s Kingship (Psalms 93-100). Among other matters, these psalms declare that when the Kingdom of Israel’s God comes, it is the Kingdom of the world’s own Creator .…
The church in Corinth was a pastoral nightmare. Factionalism, sexual immorality, incipient syncretism, using the church as a stage for self-promotion, and denial of the final resurrection were just some of the problems. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church, he confronts each of these problems directly and in…
The first chapters of the Word of God have a poetic rhythm. This is used to discredit their accuracy as historical narrative, but the truth is that these same rhythms continue far beyond the book of Genesis. In fact, the later texts shed light on the frustratingly succinct account of…
Mr. Martian: What’s that there? Mr. Edison: (Edison holds up a standard, 60 watt lightbulb). It’s a lightbulb. Mr. Martian: A “lightbulb” you say? What exactly is a “lightbulb”? Mr. Edison: A lightbulb is an object used to illuminate a dark area, say a room. It’s made primarily of filament…
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It is sometimes argued that the Christological formula of essence and person determines the way to understand person and essence in Trinitarian theology. The incarnate Son is a single person, the Person of the divine Son. But this Person exists in two natures. The church rejected monophysite Christologies; Jesus has…
In his forthcoming Democracy: A Life, Paul Cartledge summarizes Aristotle's discussion of democracy in the Politics and the disputed Constitution of Athens . According to Cartledge, Aristotle “deconstructs or decomposes demokratia as such, that genus of ‘constitution’ as it were, into four sub-species, ranging along a spectrum from the most…
1 Chronicles 2 gives a family tree for Judah. The following chapter focuses in on the royal family of David. The overall structure is chiastic: A. Sons born in Hebron. B. List of six sons born in Hebron, with mothers. C. He reigned in Hebron for seven years and six…
According to Rowan Williams ( Arius ), the central concern is with the freedom of God's will. Arius insists that God is self-subsistent, and because he is immaterial he is “without any kind of plurality or composition.” If the Son is eternally with God, then there is something beside God…
In his book on Worship Wars in Early Lutheranism , Joseph Herl argues that, though Luther advocated congregational singing, the Lutheran liturgy remained a largely choral liturgy for the first generations after the Reformation. Along the way to making his case, he dispels some myths about the medieval mass. Contrary…
Alan Jacobs takes issue with Corey Robin's essay on “ How Intellectuals Create a Public ,” where he argues that public intellectuals shouldn't write for readers who already exist but “summon” a new public into being. Jacobs says that Robin writes a lot about summoning, which, Jacobs says, has two…
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