Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
This is Part II of a 2-part essay. For Part 1, click HERE . Covenant context Most Bible teachers apply the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles directly to Christians today without any thought of the historical – and more importantly, legal – context. The ministry of Christ and the…
Introduction The book of Revelation polarises Christians. Some become obsessed with ‘cracking its code’ while others throw it into the too hard basket. Thankfully, recent advances in biblical theology enable us to liberate this enigmatic book from both mistreatment and obscurity. The prophecy is attractive to some because of its…
I'm considering the possibility that the life of Abraham as recounted in Genesis contains a typological prophecy of the history of Israel; that is, that the events in Abraham’s life broadly anticipate events in Israel’s history. This kind of pattern is seen in the case of Moses, for instance, because…
According to this recent article in The Atlantic , teenage promiscuity is decreasing. Apparently there is a general "decline in dating" which also "tracks with a decline in sexual activity." The figures are startling: The drop is the sharpest for ninth-graders, among whom the number of sexually active teens has…
"Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'" - Matthew 22:37 Jesus says that this is the most important commandment: to love God with our heart, soul, and mind. If we obey this command,…
At the last supper, Jesus took bread and, having given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples while saying, "Take, eat, this is My body given for you. Do this for My memorial." What Jesus did was recognized by the disciples, because it took place every morning…
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I n the course of a discussion of the “harmony” of the economy of grace, the great English Puritan John Owen remarks on the incomprehensible universal harmony of creation ( Doctrine of Justification by Faith , 55) : There is a harmony, a suitableness of one thing unto another, in…
W e may think that Jane Austen has only recently entered pop culture consciousness. We'd be wrong. Devoney Looser's The Making of Jane Austen traces Austen's fortunes between 1833, when her novels were republished, and 1975, the bicentenary of her birth. Looser examines book illustrations, dramatizations of the plays, political…
A s the title suggests, Jonathan Pennington's The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing sees the Sermon on the Mount as Jesus' instruction in a way of virtue and wisdom that leads to flourishing. As Pennington puts it, “Jesus provides in the Sermon a Christocentric, flourishing-oriented, kingdom-awaiting, eschatological wisdom…
I n The Sacredness of the Person , Hans Joas offers an “affirmative genealogy” of the notion of human rights. He traces the historical origins of the concept not, in Nietzchean fashion, to debunk, but to validate. Isolating the origins of a set of cultural values or practices need not,…
D avid Goldman argues that Trump sent “a clear message to America’s Muslim clients in Saudi Arabia: No more double games with non-state actors will be tolerated.” The double games have been going on a long time: “Saudi royal family members are funding every radical madrassa in Asia, including those…
I n Paul's letters, the verb “justify” (Gr. dikaioo ) means “acquit, judge favorably,” with overtones of forgiveness and reconciliation. It has an invariably positive meaning. Paul didn't learn to use “justify” that way from ancient or contemporary Greek. As James Prothro explains in a 2016 article, outside the Septuagint…
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