Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In Genesis One, God told Adam and Eve to "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth" (Gen. 1:28). In Christian worldview…
"And I also way to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it" (Matthew 16:18). Matthew 16:13ff. has historically been one of the most oft-cited passages of Scripture. Throughout the Middle Ages, it was used…
One of the important themes of the synoptic gospels is Jesus’ rejection of Israel and the transfer of God’s favor to the New Israel, the Church. A clear statement of this theme is found in the parable of the vineyard owner in Matthew 21:33-46. Jesus explained the meaning of the…
11. There is a type of person [a generation] who curses his father, And does not bless his mother. 12. There is a type who is pure in his own eyes, Yet not washed from his filthiness [manure]. 13. There is a type — oh how lofty are his eyes!…
Under the Levitical law, whole-burnt offerings from the herd and flock had to be male. No such specification is made with respect to birds (cf. Lev. 5:7-10). Why did the Lord demand that only males be offered as whole-burnt offerings? The easy answer is that the whole-burnt offering typified Christ,…
Matthew 2:13-23 has a tripartite structure, reporting briefly three events of the early years of Jesus’ life. Matthew ends his narrative of each event with a "fulfillment formula." Jesus’ flight to Egypt and His Exodus back into Israel was a fulfillment of Hosea’s words, "Out of Egypt I call my…
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While mourning, Israelites would put ashes and dust on their heads. Why? Yahweh told Adam and Eve that they would die, returning to the dust: From dust you were taken, to dust you shall return. Abram prayed to Yahweh saying that he was nothing but dust and ashes, acknowledging that…
Gibbon captures the pervasive character of idolatry in Roman society and culture in a passage from the Decline and Fall : “it was the first but arduous duty of a Christian to preserve himself pure and undefiled by the practice of idolatry. The religion of the nations was not merely…
A 2007 article from Church History examines the role of fasting in French Reformed piety, and concludes with this: “Why did the fast acquire this remarkable status and power in the Reformed world, particularly in France? The response, in part, relates to Reformed Protestants’ deep reverence for Scripture and its…
In his recent book Travelling Heroes, Robin Lane Fox examines Greek travel in the eighth century BC, focusing on the Euobean Greeks who traded and settled throughout the Mediterranean. Fox argues, in the summary of Edith Hall, the TLS reviwer , that “these electrying Euobeans can explain much of the…
Some reflections in spired by a paper on the biblical theology of the city by a student, Lisa Beyeler. 1) Genesis 1-11 is often treated as a “prologue” to Israel’s history, but that tends to detach it as “natural history” as opposed to “redemptive history.” It is a preparation for…
The following is a Christological speculation, not a Christological affirmation. My student, Brad Littlejohn, has suggested, based on a study of the theology of “life” in the gospel, that the divine-human relation in Christ changes after the death and resurrection of Jesus. The humanity participates in God’s life from the…
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