Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In a recent article in Biblical Horizons , I argued that the imagery of James 1:21 alludes to baptism, and particularly to baptism as an ordination and incorporation into the holy priesthood. This understanding of baptism as ordination to priesthood is not, I have since discovered, original, but in fact…
He will be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two of them (Zechariah 6:13b). A prime difficulty in the interpretation of this verse is the antecedent of the pronoun "them." A number of alternatives have been offered. Some suggest that the "two"…
Like certain kinds of music, the unchanging rhythm of Aquinas's Summa gets into your bones. Read a few sections and it begins to run through your head. You start drumming your fingers, humming, swaying gently to the rhythm of Videtur-Sed Contra-Responsio, Videtur-Sed Contra-Responsio, “It seems-On the contrary-I answer.” The only…
The Book of Revelation is a gold mine of liturgical information. The various hymns and exclamations in Revelation have always been used in Christian worship. As I have been studying Revelation this year, it occurred to me that make a complete hymn out of the various hymns in the book.…
In the book of Revelation we find a triad of Strong Angels, and another triad of Other Angels. The purpose of this essay is to explore the Biblical background of these two sets, and thus fill out their meaning. The first triad of angels we encounter in the Bible comes…
In Revelation, the term aggelos means messenger, of course, but with a special emphasis on messenger as covenant administrator. This is immediately obvious from the fact that the angels are constantly acting to enforce the covenant one way or another: sealing people, bringing judgment, calling for repentance, etc. They are…
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INTRODUCTION Underlying much of what I have said in the previous lecture is a conviction that sacramental theology must be worked out in the context of ecclesiology. This is not to say that it is at the expense of Trinitarian theology or Christology or soteriology; ecclesiology is an intersection point…
INTRODUCTION The Eucharist has often been expounded upon in categories drawn from Aristotelian philosophy, modern phenomenology, or some other non-biblical discourse. While these categories can illuminate certain features of the Supper, it is wrong to think that these categories provide a more ?fundamental?Edescription of the Supper than the biblical descriptions.…
This and the following two posts are lecture notes for lectures on sacramental theology that I’ll be delivering next week. Old hat, but perhaps helpful. HISTORICAL PROBLEMATICS The relationship of the Old and New is consistently a background issue in historical debates in theological generally, and particularly concerning the sacraments.…
Here is a story written by my son, Christian, age 14. Tramps, as you probably well know, are usually not very likable creatures. I say “creatures” because I, myself, have often been in doubt as to the species ?Eor gender ?Eof most tramps that I meet. Tramps, like trolls, eggs,…
Here is a story written by my son, Christian, age 14. Tramps, as you probably well know, are usually not very likable creatures. I say “creatures” because I, myself, have often been in doubt as to the species ?Eor gender ?Eof most tramps that I meet. Tramps, like trolls, eggs,…
Acts 2:23 is often cited as a central text in understanding the doctrine of foreordination; it is seen as demonstrating in a particularly explicit way the compatibility of foreordination and human responsibility. God predetermined the cross, and yet those who put Jesus to death are “wicked.” A marginal note in…
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