Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The drink offering or libation ( nesek ) is mentioned in only three places in the book of Leviticus. When the sheaf of the firstfruits was waved before the Lord, a grain offering was to be burned, along with "its libation, a fourth of a hin of wine [approx. one…
When I became a Calvinist it wasn't long before I learned that John Owen’s The Death of Death in the Death of Christ was regarded as the masterful treatise on what is known as "Limited Atonement"--the "L" in the TULIP mnemonic device for "the five points of Calvinism." This wasn't…
One of the advantages of paying very close attention to the details in the Bible, especially chronological and genealogical details, is that they can shed light on situations that don’t seem to make much sense apart from them. One such situation is that of Bathsheba. It appears that Bathsheba willingly…
The Feast of Ingathering in the seventh month of the Sinaitic calendar is also called the Feast of Sukkoth, of Booths, also called Feast of Tabernacles. I have usually called it by that last phrase, and it is the most common today; but there is a problem: A tabernacle is…
When Matthew’s Gospel was first read aloud to the fledgling Christian congregations, the experience must have been like seeing the words “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” appear afresh on cinema screens in 1999. Yet, unlike The Phantom Menace, the New Testament did not disappoint. Why?…
Fragmentation and integration are phenomena which artist Makoto Fujimura feels bodily, and about which he is concerned profoundly. What do these mean for him? How may we draw his insights into this ongoing consideration—itself integrative—of integration in a fragmented world? Thus far I have been acquainting you with matters already…
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David Field and I entertained, or frightened, the students at our recent Easter Term course by spending a few minutes debating a passage from Aldous Huxley. Since I have a blog, and David doesn't, I'll take the opportunity to settle scores once and for all. The offending passage was this…
Exodus 26:1-14 moves from inside out, from the tabernacle curtain itself (vv. 1-6) to the goats' hair covering that lays over the tabernacle (vv. 7-13) to the goats and dugong leather that constitute the outermost coverings (v. 14). Then the chapter changes course and moves outside-in: First the boards that…
My daughter, MargaretAnn, posted these Lenten meditations on the coronavirus on Instagram today. uncertainty is a frightening thing. before i left campus unexpectedly to come home, my boss sat me down and reminded me that this is the perfect time to grow. it’s when things are difficult and unsettling and…
L.M. Sacasas ponders why the coronavirus spooks us. He says it's the pandemic's uncertainty and unpredictability, which destroys our illusions of control. We categorize it as an "accident" because we don't have other categories to wrestle with the unknown. It's a peculiarly modern mental tic. " To call something an…
Exodus 26:1-14 describes four sets of coverings for the tabernacle: 1. The interior curtain, called the “tabernacle” (26:1-6). 2. A covering of goats’ hair to drape over the tabernacle (26:7-13). 3. A covering of rams’ leather, dyed red (26:14a). 4. An exterior covering of dugong or porpoise skin (26:14b). The…
Superficially, the sequence of instructions in Exodus 25-27 moves from the furnishings of the interior of the tent (ark, table, menorah) to the tent fabrics, boards, and bars, before moving out to the courtyard to describe the bronze altar (Exodus 27:1-8) and the court hangings (Exodus 27:9-19). At that level,…
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