Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
There is no question about the fact that the book of Deuteronomy is full of literary allusion. But there is a serious problem, even a paradox, of understanding how that allusion works. To begin with, if we assume that Deuteronomy was written by Moses — with some editorial emendations added…
Genesis and Genetics in Blade Runner 2049 The power of science fiction, and what’s positive about it, is that you’re able to experience the worst-case scenario without actually having to live it. (Actor Ryan Gosling, who plays Officer “K”) (Warning: The following analysis contains spoilers for both Blade Runner films.)…
The battle of Gog and Magog is found in Ezekiel 38-39. My purpose in this brief essay is to propound an explanation for this passage that I have not encountered in any of my commentaries, but that makes more sense to me than any other. I offer it here in…
I. Varlam Shalamov in Kolyma Tales describes his experience of the Gulag, where he spent more than a dozen of years. In a story titled The Life of Engineer Kipreev Shalamov reflects on the theme of hope in the life of a prisoner: “Hope always shackles the convict. Hope is…
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…
And he said to me, "What do you see?" And I answered, "I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits" (Zechariah 5:2). Immediately following his vision of the outpouring of the Spirit upon the restoration community (4:1-14), Zechariah saw a flying scroll. The…
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Does judgment according to works contradict the gospel? Does it reintroduce law back in the covenant of grace at the last minute? Is judgment according to works God’s final “Gotcha”? Not at all. Judgment according to works is part of the gospel. Paul hopes for the day when “according to…
It’s been suggested that there is some conflict between my denial of human merit and my defense of judgment according to works. There is no conflict. There is not even a tension. Nary a whisper. We are judged, after all, according to works that are entirely gifts of God. The…
Was Charles Hodge out of accord with the Westminster Standards as interpreted by the FV Study Commitee? Hodge writes of the final judgment: “The ground or matter of judgment is said to be the ‘deeds done in the body,’ men are to be judged ‘according to their works;’ ‘the secrets…
Revelation 20:11-15 is widely taken as a scene of final judgment. Despite some potential preterist doubts, it does appear to be a final judgment scene. It comes after the millennium, and the ones to be judged are raised from the dead. The dead in v 12 includes all the dead,…
I’ve gotten wind that somewhere out there in the vast howling wilderness of cyberspace some have hinted - nay, more than hinted - that I have only recently begun to show my true colors, and only under pressure from the PCA GA FV study committee. I could protest my honesty,…
In his stimulating book Liturgical Theology , Simon Chan argues that a crucial weakness of Protestant and evangelical theology is that it stops the gospel story with the ascension, and doesn’t see that Pentecost and the church are integral to the evangel (as Jesus says in Luke 24 - the…
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