Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Romans 8:31-39 is better sung than commented upon. It’s a thrilling, ecstatic hymn of boisterous assurance that God’s purposes will be accomplished. Yet, I will attempt to comment on them. If we sing Paul’s hymn, let’s make sure we sing with understanding. Given the character of these verses, it’s easy…
"An ethic unshaped by eschatology is neither Jesus’ nor Christian.” - Tremper Longman How does an immature culture grow up? Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver is about the dangers of being lost in adolescence. By the end of the movie, the viewer is pointed to a road we infer leads to…
We are in the middle of our campaign for the end of the fiscal year. We've raised $30,000 from some major donors, and need to raise another $70,000 to meet our budget. Please consider becoming a regular donor , and keep reading to learn about a great opportunity. This brief…
Prolegomena 1. “You’re a pastor,” my new friend says as we sit down, “and you’re a massage therapist. How does that work?” To her, Christianity implies stuffy ideology, a disregard of the physical. A Christian massage therapist is an oddity; a pastor massage therapist is nearly a contradiction in terms.…
54% of Poles think favorably of Americans, only 13% unfavorably, according to Centrum Badania Opinii Spolecznej . Ten years ago, the numbers were 44% and 21% respectively. Twenty years ago, they were 64% and 6%. Back in the 1990s, Americans were the most liked nation among Poles. Now they are…
Stones of Life and Death Of course, the sex of a child is not a choice between light and darkness or life and death. Sex, like circumcision, is a horizontal demarcation, a delegation of roles within humanity. In contrast, the white stone and the black stone within the “liturgical scrotum”…
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FS Naiden ends his Smoke Signals for the Gods with a fascinating discussion of the contrast between Greek and Hebrew conceptions of God (323-4) Greek gods were watchers of sacrifices, watchers of humans “as if attending a play” (322). They passed judgments, but the judgments were never permanent. They were…
CE Douglas points out ( Last Word in Prophecy , 134-5) that Greeks as much as Hebrews were obsessed with sevens: “There were seven wonders of the world, seven sages, seven metals, seven tones and so on. Thebes, the city of the Phoenician Cadmus who taught the Greeks their letters,…
When Shadrach, Meschach and Abed-nego emerge from the furnace unscathed, Nebuchadnezzar praises their God, whose angel saved the men from the fire. The three men “put their trust in Him, violating the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve any god except their own God”…
F.S. Naiden’s Smoke Signals for the Gods is a landmark study of Greek sacrifice. Naiden’s main opponents are Walter Burkert ( Homo Necans ), who views sacrifice psychologically as an act of sublimated violence, and Marcel Detienne and Jean-Pierre Vernant, whose Cuisine of Sacrifice Among the Greeks replaces Burkert’s “Teutonic…
Saul’s three sins in 1 Samuel 13-15 correspond to the sins of Adam, Cain, and the sons of God. Like Adam, he sins with regard to worship; like Cain, he attacks his fellow Israelites; like the sons of God, he makes an alliance with an enemy. At each point, of…
Felicity Morse is the self-appointed Grinch of Valentine’s day : “Walk into any shop and you’re practically attacked by romance. Angry red hearts dangle threateningly from ceiling tiles, cushions shouting LOVE are scattered accusingly across displays, and judgmental teddies guard stands like scornful sentinels. It’s not just in gift shops…
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