Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
(continued from previous issue) Between 30 and 50 What did the Levites do between age 30 and 50? Numbers 4 shows us that they carried the house of God on their shoulders. Lifting up the Lord is an image of worship in the Bible, and David’s restructuring of the Levites…
When God created the world, He created two lands: the Throne-land of Eden (entered through the sanctuary-garden, the Garden of Eden), and the Outlying Lands, such as the lands of Havilah and Cush. This essentially bi-polar world is the world of the Old Creation, and it continued to exist until…
Color is inescapable, except for those who are color blind. In our church architecture, we either employ color schemes that are helpful to worship, or we employ color schemes that are not helpful. Of course, this assertion merely begs the question: What color schemes are most helpful. God showed interest…
As I noted in an earlier article in Rite Reasons , the Church Fathers Tertullian, Ambrose, and Augustine all claimed that baptism inducts the baptized person into membership in the royal priesthood of the church, and Thomas Aquinas said that baptism, by imprinting an indelible “character” on the soul, confers…
When the Aaronic priests were ordained, the blood of the ram of "filling” was placed on the lobe of the right ear, the right thumb, and the right big toe (Lev. 8:22-24). Similarly, the cleansing rite for a leper included smearing the right ear lobe, thumb, and big toe with…
In my Preliminary Commentary on Daniel , which many of you have obtained, I argued in chapter 13 that the four monsters called up from the sea by the evangelistic work of the four winds (the saints) represented the deep hatred of God that evangelistic work brings to the fore…
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Two recent pieces highlight neglected dimensions of corporate and upscale welfare, already wealthy people making large amounts of money from the tax dollars of ordinary people. At Slate , Krissy Clark asks the obvious question of who ultimately benefits from food stamp programs. The program feeds poor kids and families,…
Mummies don’t go to waste, Ana Ruiz tells us in The Spirit of Ancient Egypt : “By the 11th century, Egyptian mummies were being ground into powder and sold as Mummia Vera ; this was marketed as an aphrodisiac and a medicine. The great Persian physician Avicenna prescribed Mummia for…
Ana Ruiz gives a detailed summary of the variety of sevens in ancient Egyptian religion and culture ( The Spirit of Ancient Egypt ). There were seven major deities, seven astral powers, seven planets, seven metals (gold, silver, mercury, copper, iron, tin, lead) ruled by the planets. Spells used the…
Averil Cameron’s Byzantine Matters is not the popular introduction to Byzantium that it’s small page count (115 text) and pocket size might lead one to expect. It’s more a review of the literature on Byzantium, particularly from English-writing scholars, among whom Byzantium is still known mainly by its absence. Cameron…
I’m always behind the trends, so I probably don’t have to worry. But if you are among the dozen or so people who haven’t yet seen HBO’s atmospheric True Detective , spoilers follow. The climactic struggle with the serial murderer takes place in a cavernous, horrifying graveyard of children, which…
Jesus describes His death as His glorification/exaltation. Elevated on the cross, it’s as if Jesus had taken the throne to pass judgment on this world and to cast out the ruler of this world (John 12:31). John’s narrative prepares the way for this declaration. In chapter 11, Jesus raises Lazarus…
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