Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Continuing through The Worship of the English Puritans by Horton Davies: The author gives some of his own appraisals rather than immediately quoting Durel, even though that is how he began his chapter. In Davies’ opinion, while the Puritans would invoke their own interpretation of Scripture in order to condemn,…
What follows are from a couple of posts on my blog. I hoped to do a series. If I do follow up, I will probably want to do it here on the BH blog rather than my own. Feedback welcome: It is no secret that some have been scathingly critical…
Jeremy Sexton wrote this in an earlier line of discussion: “Along those lines, I think what we most often miss in our theology of baptism (though Calvin didn’t miss this) is that Christian baptism — if it “is” anything that came before — is Jesus’ water baptism. In our baptism,…
Jeff pointed out that baptism is not Christian circumcision . Looking at the comments, I think it might be helpful to point out that Israel was not the Church . In the new creation, the idea of an “unbaptized Christian” is either very temporary or an anomaly. Those who came…
Once a upon a time, one Sunday morning, a pastor mounted his pulpit for the sermon and said the following: A troubled young man walked into a downtown high-rise building. As he approached the directory on the wall, he took out a small booklet and looked back and forth from…
If you are, say, leading a Bible study in Genesis, you might notice that right after the covenant is renewed and circumcision is established (ch 17) that we see Abraham eating and drinking with God (ch 18). After that meal, God makes a point of saying the he should share…
Showing page 216 of 309
Showing page 2 of 43
Walton and Sandy ( The Lost World of Scripture ) define science as “an understanding of the material world derived from an empirical process and operating according to naturalistic premises” (50). Given that definition, it’s hardly surprising that they conclude that “the Bible’s illocutions do not offer scientific description or…
In their editorial introduction to Purity and the Forming of Religious Traditions , Christian Frevel and Christophe Nihan question the common distinction between “moral” and “ritual” impurity, and the popular claim that purity rules were evolved in a “spiritualized” direction. They admit that purity means different things in different contexts,…
John sees a strong angel descending from heaven (Revelation 10:1). It’s not just an angelophany; it’s a theophany, a Christophany. That’s evident from the fact that, like the throne of God itself, his head is surrounded by the rainbow (cf. 4:3). His head is in the place where the Enthroned…
Samantha Melamed reports that young men today are no longer satisfied with a handshake: “more men are embracing, well, embracing.” Melamed writes, “The rise in hugging can be directly traced to declines in homophobia, according to Mark McCormack, a University of Durham (England) sociologist who has studied the behavior of…
“Grain and new wine” is an automatic combination throughout the Hebrew Bible (cf. e.g., Genesis 27:28, 37; Numbers 12:27; Deuteronomy 7:13; 2 Kings 18:32; 2 Chronicles 31:5; 32:28; Isaiah 62:8; Hosea 2:8). Grain ( dagan ) is almost never used without “wine,” and when it happens you know something is…
Hee Youl Lee’s A Dynamic Reading of the Holy Spirit in Revelation is a complicated monograph on the role of the Spirit in Revelation. Lee argues that the book is organized by a sixfold plot (introduction, setting, complication, resolution, evaluation, moral)_ that functions at four levels (heaven, earth, abyss, lake…
Showing page 588 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
