Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The drink offering or libation ( nesek ) is mentioned in only three places in the book of Leviticus. When the sheaf of the firstfruits was waved before the Lord, a grain offering was to be burned, along with "its libation, a fourth of a hin of wine [approx. one…
When I became a Calvinist it wasn't long before I learned that John Owen’s The Death of Death in the Death of Christ was regarded as the masterful treatise on what is known as "Limited Atonement"--the "L" in the TULIP mnemonic device for "the five points of Calvinism." This wasn't…
One of the advantages of paying very close attention to the details in the Bible, especially chronological and genealogical details, is that they can shed light on situations that don’t seem to make much sense apart from them. One such situation is that of Bathsheba. It appears that Bathsheba willingly…
The Feast of Ingathering in the seventh month of the Sinaitic calendar is also called the Feast of Sukkoth, of Booths, also called Feast of Tabernacles. I have usually called it by that last phrase, and it is the most common today; but there is a problem: A tabernacle is…
When Matthew’s Gospel was first read aloud to the fledgling Christian congregations, the experience must have been like seeing the words “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” appear afresh on cinema screens in 1999. Yet, unlike The Phantom Menace, the New Testament did not disappoint. Why?…
Fragmentation and integration are phenomena which artist Makoto Fujimura feels bodily, and about which he is concerned profoundly. What do these mean for him? How may we draw his insights into this ongoing consideration—itself integrative—of integration in a fragmented world? Thus far I have been acquainting you with matters already…
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A few random thoughts on the parable of the treasure in the field (Matthew 13:44) 1) The kingdom is like a man-finding-hidden-treasure-who-buys-the-field. The hiddenness of the treasure is crucial. In His parables, Jesus reveals things hidden from before the foundation of the world (13:35). Jesus is the new Solomon, the…
Stapert points out that in the same motet, Bach breaks off the last part of Isaiah 43:1 (du bist mein -you are mine) when the verse is first introduced. He saves is “until the point where he could introduce them as part of a brief dialogue during the chorale/fugue.” “Dialogue”…
The second half of Bach’s motet “Furchte dich nicht” (“Fear you not”) consists of a Paul Gerhardt chorale, sung over a fugue drawn from Isaiah 43:1. The fugue repeats its subject - ich habe dich erloset, “I have you redeemed” - 33 times. The Redeemer is associated with the number…
Victor Zuckerkandl contrasts post-polyphonic Western music with Gregorian chant. In both there are longer and shorter tones in a succession in time. But in “our music,” another layer is added: “the succession also gives rise to the metrical wave, whose uniform pulsation is perceptible through all the changes of the…
Jesus’ parable of the treasure in the field looks straightforward: It’s about the value of the kingdom (Matthew 13:44). When we probe the behavior of the man in the parable, and the implied behavior of the seller, we find there are more intriguing things going on. Commentators commonly question the…
For the next several weeks, the Christian Century is publishing brief lectionary essays of mine on its blog. You can find a meditation on the readings for June 1 here: http://www.theolog.org/blog/2008/05/blogging-towa-3.html.
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