Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
As Adam and Eve walked to the center of the Garden of Eden to meet with the LORD on their first Sabbath they conversed about the origin and age of the earth. Adam: You know, honey, we spent a lot of time yesterday making preparations for our house, and we…
Some of our forefathers believed in reading/singing the psalms in order. Today, when the psalms are even used at all, they tend to be used randomly, though sometimes tied to a church calendar or to the pastor’s sermon. The Bible does not bind us to any particular practice, but there…
Dr. Collins begins his essay with a brief statement of the Day Age view and then a brief statement of the Six Day view, focussing on the challenge to that view posed by modern "science." He ends this discussion by writing: "Two crucial points are at stake here: first, the…
In his The Construction of Social Reality , Berkeley philosopher John Searle puzzles over the ontology of the products of human construction. Certain things – granite, platypi, weeping willows – occur naturally; while other realities – stone walls, zoos and parks, Chase Manhattan Bank – exist only as products of…
In the journal Presbyterion 20 (1994):109-130, published by Covenant Theological Seminary, Dr. C. John Collins sets forth a revision of the Day Age approach in his essay, "How Old Is the Earth? Anthropomorphic Days in Genesis 1:1–2:3." Dr. Collins’s essay has been widely accepted in evangelical Presbyterian circles as an…
The Righteousness of Shem and Japheth As noted above, the action of Shem and Japheth was purely symbolic. They did not need to cover Noah with a garment, for he was already covered by the tent. Their action was a symbolic affirmation of Noah’s authority, a symbolic rejection of Ham’s…
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David Aune has argued that the heavenly court scene of Revelation 4-5 “bears such a striking resemblance to the ceremonial of the imperial court and cult that the latter can only be a parody of the former” (5). He proposes this against the main “major competing view” that “the heavenly…
Will Rees says in his TLS review of Judith Butler's Senses of the Subject that the “biggest topic of discussion” has been Butler's writing style, which he characterizes as “torturous.” It's not just the style. In her poststructuralist early work, Butler argues that “gender identities are constructed by the machinations…
The Economist reports on “an immigrant-led surge in London churchgoing. Weekly participation in Christian services in the capital has grown by 16% since 2005. Most devout Londoners (88%) worship outside the ranks of the established church whose spires pierce the skyline; about a third are Pentecostal.” It is the same…
Drawing on the work of CS Peirce, Giovanni Maddalena ( The Philosophy of Gesture ) argues that pragmatism must be understood as more than an anti-Cartesian movement in philosophy. To the critique of Descartes, it adds a critique of Kant. He summarizes Peirce's critique. Kant is a nominalist, which means…
The Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas has a clear surface structure. A first part, two parts of the second part, and a third part. But that obvious structure doesn't tell the whole story. Thomas explains the structure of the treatise at the outset (1, 2): “Because the chief aim of…
In his Climax of Prophecy , Richard Bauckham’s devotes a long, complicated, fascinating chapter to an analysis of the phrase “tribes, tongues, nations, peoples” (and variations) in Revelation. The arrangement of the lists varies, but the variations are not random. They reinforce substantive connections between different parts of the book.…
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