Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Introduction Isaiah 21 can only be understood in the light of its placement in the architecture of the second “volume” of the prophecy (chapters 13–27). The contents are arranged in twin sevenfold “columns” that represent the great bronze pillars of Solomon’s Temple: Jachin and Boaz, priest and king. The priestly…
A Biblical Reflection on the Purpose of the Constellations The starry heavens hold a place of wonder in the hearts of men. Since man’s creation we have looked up into the heavens and have beheld its glory. This is particularly true of the night sky. The stars, in their shinning…
The case for there being five discourses within the Gospel according to Matthew is a hard one to challenge: surely the closing formula “when Jesus finished these sayings” as found in 8:1, 11:1, 13:53, 19:1, and 26:1 settles it once and for all. And by the five instances of the…
The Long Commission The Great Commission of Matthew 28 has long been a cornerstone of American Evangelicalism. It has formed and fashioned the American church’s missional impulse. Yet when viewed from the wide lens of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, the Great Commission is revealed as one of the pillars…
I am delighted to see that more and more churches in the Reformed tradition are now recognizing that all baptized children are members of the body of Christ and therefore ought to be communing with the rest of the body at the Lord’s Table. This has been decades in the…
Good leaders have always been rare. In today’s world, they seem extinct. Joe Rigney’s recent book Leadership and Emotional Sabotage digs into the spiritual reasons for the leadership epidemic and recommends cures. Rigney starts with a summary of a book by Edwin Friedman called A Failure of Nerve . Friedman’s…
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In Amos 3:7, the prophet says “Yahweh God does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets.” This is a fairly obvious allusion back to Genesis 18:17-18, where Yahweh says, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become…
Luke 22:24-30 As I mentioned last week in connection with priesthood, there is a sense in which we can talk about a priestly stage of Israel?s history and a priestly stage of life. But the more fundamental reality of the NT is that all members of Christ are priests. And…
In Rom 5:1-11, Paul twice mentions salvation as a future experience for the believer (vv 9, 10). The salvation he has in view is particularly rescue from the wrath of judgment, which might have either an historical or eschatological focus. The just are like Noah, who are “saved” when God…
The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery entry on “enemy” points out that “groaning” in the Psalms is “frequently focused on the enemy, such as the anguished rhetorical lament, ‘How long will my enemy triumph over me?’” The article points out that Paul adopts this same groaning lament in Rom 7:24, but…
Robert Kagan ‘s acclaimed little book, Paradise and Power , offers the following insightful analysis into the contemporary European vision of the world and the European hostility to and suspicion of US power. After WW2, Kagan writes, “European strategy culture” set out on a program of “conscious rejection of the…
One of the charges brought against the Auburn Avenue theology is that it undermines assurance. Raising the question of assurance is fair game, but it is also highly ironic. It is not as if the Reformed churches have the issue of assurance solved, after all. In many sectors of the…
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