Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Higher critics have, for a long time, posited a Second Isaiah to account for the structural and tone differences in the book from chapter 40 on. Now, we do believe in a Second Isaiah, but believe that the form critics have generally suffered from a lack of imagination both in…
A couple of the most serious mistranslations in our Bibles are found in the book of Leviticus. The main reason these errors have gone unreformed, I believe, is because Leviticus is simply not studied often enough, so the problem has never been fully addressed. The first mistranslation is found right…
Thomas Kuhn’s book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions , is really a parenthesis inside of the larger reality of Christian history. Progress and forward movement inside of science is a footnote to the larger and more general reality of covenant renewals in both Biblical and Christian history. The fundamental mark…
James Jordan, in the June/July 1995 Biblical Horizons, wrote a very helpful essay, "The Great Hangover," the gist of which I entirely agree with. The theme of the essay was that the Church to move forward must shuck off the old husks of Hellenism, Rabbinism, and undo admiration for all…
Traditionally, the three offices in the Presbyterian churches have been teaching elder, ruling elder, and deacon. These have been associated with priest, elder, and Levite respectively. We have seen that the deacon is in fact an apprentice and assistance elder. We have also seen that Levites as well as priests…
John 7:39 interprets Jesus’ offer of living water as an offer of the Spirit to those who believe, "for," John continues, "the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified." John was not making an ontological statement about the Spirit, as if the Spirit did not exist until…
Showing page 269 of 309
Showing page 2 of 43
The following thoughts are largely inspired by Rowan Williams's Grace and Necessity . 1. Art is about making, not primarily about making a point. It is not fundamentally self-expression, or copying something that’s already there. It’s about constructing a new thing, an object. 2. If this is true, then the…
The following is an extract from chapter 3 of my Against Christianity (Canon Press, 2003). You can get a 30% discount on the book by entering LEITREADER during checkout at www.canonpress.com/AgainstChristianity Modernity is a revolt against ritual, and the modern city is an unprecedented attempt to form a civic community…
Sheba comes to Jerusalem to test Solomon. He passes the test. He can answer everything she asks. 2 Chronicles 9:2 describes the encounter with a neat chiasm: A. Reported ( nagad ) to her B. Solomon C. all her words. D. Not-hidden C'. a word B'. from Solomon A'. which…
Like most contemporary theologians writing on the Eucharist, David Grumett ( Material Eucharist ) works off of the work of Henri de Lubac. But he identifies two "principal shortcomings" in de Lubac's eucharistic theology (8). The first was an "excessively narrow ecclesial lens." Eucharistic and ecclesial realism support each other,…
When Moses ascends Sinai with the priests and elders, they see the God of Israel resting his feet on a sapphire pavement above them as they eat and drink (Exodus 24). The scene has a triadic structure: mountain, pavement, and Yahweh above. That structure is replicated in the ark of…
Bill Gates is looking for an energy miracle. Fossil fuels pollute, but they are far and away the cheapest and most efficient fuels. Nothing else has come close and, argues Mark Mills in The New Atlantis , we cannot imagine anything coming close, given the current state of physics. To…
Showing page 140 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
