Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The preceding essay has caused me to consider the possibility that the life of Abraham as recounted in Genesis contains a typological prophecy of the history of Israel; that is, that the events in Abraham’s life broadly anticipate events in Israel’s history. This kind of pattern is seen in the…
by: Jeff Meyers and James Jordan In the fifth chapter of John’s gospel we read of a man who had been ill for 38 years and who was lying by a pool located by the Sheep Gate of Jerusalem. This sheep waited, as did many other infirm people, for an…
What had been reduced to ruin by this sex, would by the selfsame sex be recovered to salvation. As Eve believed the serpent, so Mary believed the angel. The delinquency which the one occasioned by believing, the other by believing effaced. —Tertullian What is Paul saying about women and salvation…
Back in Biblical Horizons 132 I discussed the horrible abuse of the converted men of Salem/Shechem in Genesis 34. These Hivites had joined the covenant by circumcision and then were slaughtered by Simeon and Levi. That, however, is not the end of their story. In Joshua 9 we find the…
Genesis 14:14 says that Abram mustered his trained men, “born in his house,” to rescue Lot, and gives their number as 318. It is clear that the precise number is provided for some reason, but what is it? S. Gevirtz notes that 318 is the sum of all the prime…
Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. (John 21:11) This is one of those texts in the Bible that many people puzzle over. It is not a puzzle…
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Matthew 23: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! This is a surprising way for Jesus to…
Jacob Taubes ( The Political Theology of Paul (Cultural Memory in the Present) ) notes that Paul’s teaching on law is directed not only to Pharisaical and Jewish opponents, but part of a dialog with his whole Mediterranean environment: “the concept of law . . . is a compromise formula…
Why should the blood of all righteous men and prophets be charged to first-century Jerusalem (Matthew 23:35-36)? Jerusalem didn’t even exist when Cain killed Abel, and “this generation” didn’t kill Zechariah. Isn’t it unfair for them to suffer judgment for the sins of their fathers? Doesn’t Ezekiel tell us that…
Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees for building memorials for prophets and adorning the tombs of the righteous (Matthew 23:29). This is mere external honor, since they don’t actually follow the teachings of the prophets. It’s as insufficient as cleansing the outside of the cup. True; but Jesus says something…
Matthew 23:29-36 works out as a fairly neat chiasm: A. Woe to scribes, build tombs of prophets and adorn monuments of righteous, v 29 B. Blood of the prophets, v. 30 C. You are sons of murderous fathers; fill their guilt, vv 31-32 D. Serpents, brood of vipers, v 33…
Craig Carter, one of the leading interpreters of Yoder’s work, says I got Yoder wrong in my post yesterday. He writes on his blog. He says that I “don’t understand what Yoder meant by the Constantinian Shift. Your mistake is actually a common one. This is not for Yoder an…
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