Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me. In 2005, God blessed our family with our third child, our second daughter, whom we named Bethany. As soon as Bethany was born, we knew there was something different about her. Unlike her two older siblings, who were born…
Christian, what is it that we believe? While Creeds like the Nicene and Apostle’s have been fundamental pieces of Christian liturgy and life, the American Church is highly unattached to these classic statements. From this creedal phobia has arisen the popular “No Creed, but Christ” slogan. Such slogan, of course,…
Revisiting William Cavanaugh’s devastating 2009 The Myth of Religious Violence . The myth of Cavanaugh’s title is a well-known one. According to the myth, religion is a distinct sphere of human life and practice from the rest of human social life, a universal impulse in human beings, and is dogmatic,…
19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20 And when he had so…
An octave is a repetition, a repetition with a difference. It’s not the first note played again , but the first note played at a higher pitch. Octaves have always marked new beginnings. Hebrew boys were circumcised on the eighth day. Firstborn sheep were dedicated to Yahweh on the eighth…
We say Jesus’ resurrection is good news. It wasn’t good news for the disciples on the first Easter. More like perplexing, bewildering news. For others, it wasn’t perplexing, and it certainly wasn’t good. It was plain old bad news. Early in Luke’s gospel, Herod is terrified that Jesus might be…
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Some highlights from Clive James’s recent fascinating Cultural Amnesia . Speaking of the lack of adventure in today’s successful careers: “Could there be anything less astonishing than to work day and night on Wall Street to make the millions that will buy the Picasso that will hang on the wall…
Protestants are people of the word; Catholics are people of the sacraments. That’s the way it’s usually divided up. Sed contra, I say: Medieval Catholics frequently denied that there were sacraments in Eden; Protestants have just as frequently affirmed Edenic sacraments. The upshot: For Protestants, sacraments are inherent in human…
If all theology is theology proper, all theology is also prayer. Because we are never merely speaking “about” God.
On some constructions of the covenant of works, obedient Adam would have secured eternal life for his posterity. He would have achieved the eschaton of human destiny, as a human being, entirely from the resources given to him at creation. Since the fall, we need a Savior, and we need…
All theology is theology proper. Talk about creation or covenant, Israel or incarnation, justification or final judgment is talk about the Creator, the covenant Lord, the God of Jacob, the Son who takes flesh, the God who justifies and judges. Theologians can’t not talk about God, and one test -…
What should Adam have done when the serpent started talking to Eve? What would you do? You’d scream, probably. But then you’d pray, hard. Because you’d know that only God can deliver you from a dragon. We sometimes think that Adam should have stepped up and handled the serpent bare-handed.…
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