Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The god of Israel was not just any god. Two thousand years of Christian history, with it’s besetting philosophical temptations, and full-blown deist and transcendentalist and universalist problems, have obscured the fact that, in itself, the identity of the true god (or gods) cannot be predetermined, any more than the…
Jacob and Solomon God gave wealth and possessions to Jacob, and then threatened to take them all away at Peniel. Jacob wrestled with God, and through prayer Jacob saw through the crisis by faith and was made victor (Hosea 12:4). The Kingdom period in Israel concerns the same themes. We…
In our study of the historical impact and unfolding of the Ten Words of God, we now arrive at the Third Word. The Third Word prohibits hypocrisy, and when we realize this, we can see right away that disobeying the Third Word is closely tied to the situation of Israel…
Abraham and Joshua In our previous two essays, we considered aspects of the lives of Abraham and Jacob, as these display how God works with men in history. These two men carry in themselves all the future of Israel, so to speak, and their lives at the individual level correspond…
Part 5: Laying New Foundations in a Dying World (continued) Physical Training Though it is seldom recognized any more, the fact is that no liberal arts and no science is possible apart from peace, and peace is only possible if there is a strong military presence that protects a nation.…
Last month, in our essay " Patriarchal Dominion ," we observed the flow from Abraham to Jacob to Joseph. Our concern here is to advance our understanding of that narrative flow. I should mention that I am assuming much that is found in my book Primeval Saints: Studies in the…
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Luther-style: “I also want to concede that they [ministers, priests] may perform these sacrifices of thanksgiving for others, just as I can also thank God apart from the mass, for Christ and all his saints, yes, for all creatures. Therefore, the priest may think thus in his heart: “Behold, dear…
In his contribution to The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther (Cambridge Companions to Religion) (p. 274) , Robert Jenson remarks on the unfinished business of the Council of Chalcedon: “It is an agreed foundation for all Christian theology: as ‘one and the same’ identifiable person, Christ is both ‘one of…
For Luther, the believer has a doubly de-centered existence. “He who trusts in Christ exists in Christ; he is one with Christ, having the same righteousness as He.” But the believer who lives by faith outside himself in Christ also lives by love outside himself in his neighbor: “a Christian…
My review of Peter Brown’s latest book is up at the Christianity Today site this morning.
In the Old Testament, certain interior spaces were holy because God dwelt in those spaces, consecrating them by His glory (Exodus 29). The objects that were placed in those spaces were consecrated, mostly by oil, to take their place in the presence of God. Things were holy when made fit…
At the Washington Post site, Max Fisher reports on some of the results of a new Pew Forum report on the global religious landscape . Fisher highlights the study’s findings about the reach of Christianity. It is, shall we say, encouraging for Christians. First in sheer numbers: “Christians are by…
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