Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
I have never heard anyone say that the Bible is impractical, but I have heard people, after an in depth exegesis of a passage, ask for the practical application. Offer a class on childrearing, marriage, finance and the church members flock to it; offer a course on Leviticus, the visions…
Stones External and Internal The modern practice of dismantling the Bible into a shambles of documents authored in response to disparate historical events rather than viewing it as a unified testimony inspired by God is a surefire way to miss what is actually going on in the text. This failure…
King Asa of Judah made a strong start, purging the land of idols, altars, and images, and winning a war against the ginormous Cushite army led by Zerach. It all unraveled in his final years. From his thirty-fifth year to the forty-first year, when his reign came to an end,…
What appears to be Paul’s first recorded statement on justification comes in Acts 13, in a sermon at Pisidian Antioch. It's can serve as a summary of Paul's letter to the Romans, and throws some important light on the themes of that letter. Paul begins his sermon with a quick…
Iago as Tempter The answer to our first question — whether or not Othello is really great tragedy — has already pointed the way to the answer for the second question — Was Othello a noble Moor or a fool? The two questions, of course, are necessarily related. The fall…
When Adam McIntosh was ordained as Pastor of Saint David’s Church (CREC) in Houston on June 11, 2017, it was the culmination of decades of preparation. Adam is the product of two continents and three Christian traditions. Born in Paducah, Kentucky, he lived his early years partly in Jericho, where…
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The schism in the American Presbyterian church following the revivals of the late eighteenth century was, Niebuhr suggests, “a conflict between two generations of Scotch-Irish, between an immigrant generation nurtured in Europe and the first native-born, frontier-bred generation” ( Social Sources of Denominationalism , 156-7). The younger generation became a…
Friends of the Theopolis Institute: Before he attended the Theopolis course on Holistic Mission during Easter term, 2014, Jonathan Sedlak lived with his family in the quiet, comfortable Milwaukee suburb of Slinger, Wisconsin. An intensive week in Birmingham changed all that. Listening to missionary Wes Baker and hashing over readings…
Further reflections on rivers in the book of Revelation, following up on an earlier note . “River”( potamos ) is used eight times in Revelation, and the eight references form a repeated pattern: A. Third trumpet, star falls on rivers; turn to poison, 8:10. B. Sixth trumpet, release angels at…
Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire from heaven (Genesis 19:24). This was a response to the “outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah,” which was “very great” on account of their “exceedingly grave” sin (18:20). Presumably, the cry is the cry of the oppressed, or the cry of innocent blood that,…
S imon Gathercole ( Defending Substitution ) finds a common theme running through alternatives to substitutionary conceptions of atonement: They emphasize the cosmic and oppressive power of Sin, but downplay the role of specific acts of sin—sin s —in Paul's theology. Gathercole acknowledges that Paul can speak of Sin as…
William Swatos's 1979 monograph, Into Denominationalism , is a model of careful historical and sociological judgment. Though he relies on secondary scholarship, the book is rich in historical detail, even though it covers a wide swath of history, from Henry VIII to the establishment of the Episcopal Church in the…
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