Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Place names become fraught with meaning by association with people and events. The name “Wittenberg” calls to mind Luther and the Reformation for Protestants and Catholics alike. Geneva has a wider range of associations, but the Reformation Wall, with its four main statues of William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza,…
“…a mystery without a solution, a horror story without savagery, a nightmare in which all the watches stop at noonday…” The Bestial Gardens of Men Then they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” (Luke 23:30) The following lines by Edgar Allan Poe,…
2 Samuel 11-12, which record David’s sin with Bathsheba and its aftermath, is structured chiastically: This arrangement highlights several things about the episode. It reinforces what is obvious from even a casual reading, that the transition in the story occurs with Nathan’s confrontation of David’s sin and David’s confession. Up…
Medieval bestiaries are packed with quaintly inaccurate information about animals, birds, and other created things. Foxes and snakes are devilish critters; stags, pelicans and elephants are Christlike in their various ways. Of course, the medievals picked this up from the Bible, where bestiary observations are fairly common. “Go to the…
What do Reformational Catholicism and craft beer have in common? The question seems to beg for a punchline. Better yet, it would be pretty good clickbait for an article on Katharina von Bora’s “spirited” contribution that helped spark the Protestant Reformation. Well, this is no joke and I am certainly…
Suffering Defined Suffering happens. We witness it all around us and experience it in our lives. It often comes from forces beyond our control. Suffering is inscrutable; it strikes unexpectedly, on a bright summer day or a cold winter night. We lament and are bewildered by suffering. But we are…
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When the two witnesses are killed, the people of the land rejoice by exchanging gifts (Revelation 11:10). In the first century, gift-giving was not Christmasy but Purimy. After Mordecai triumphed over Haman, Jews celebrated by sending gifts to the poor (Esther 9:20-22). For the people of the land, the death…
Two witnesses come to the city to breath fire, shut up the heavens, turn water to blood, bring plagues (Revelation 11). The people of the city kill them. What lies on the street is “their body” ( ptoma , v. 8) and that’s what the peoples and tribes and nations…
Christ’s Passion, Thomas says ( ST III, 48, 3), doesn’t seem to be a sacrifice: “human flesh was never offered up in the sacrifices of the Old Law” and were indeed condemned (citing Psalm 105:38). Thomas replies by emphasizing the figural character of the Old Covenant. Christ’s death was prefigured…
How, Thomas asks ( ST , III, 48, 1), can Christ earn salvation for other people? He answers by reference to the totus Christus : “Grace was bestowed upon Christ, not only as an individual, but inasmuch as He is the Head of the Church, so that it might overflow…
A charming video made by my son Christian and some friends. http://vimeo.com/48214943
Next door at First Things , I suggest that Shakespeare understood that Lenten penitence leads to final joy.
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