Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
John 18:1-11 appears on the surface to be a straightforward, if somewhat unusual, narrative of Jesus’ arrest by officers of the chief priests and Pharisees accompanied by an apparently large group of Roman soldiers, all of them led by the betrayer, Judas. But there is much more here than what…
Why is the US embroiled in the Middle East? There are two primary answers: Oil and Israel. Both are fairly intractable problems, the latter in significant part because of the unique convergence of theology and politics that has forged American policy in the region. Dispensationalists insist that we must bless…
There’s a common theme that arises in the study of theologians James B. Jordan and Peter Leithart. It is this: Context matters. Details matter. This is God’s Word. The details are not arbitrary “filler” hiding the kernel of truth in the husk of the text. The husk and the kernel…
Perhaps the most fearful of all possibilities in the world is the possibility of betrayal on the part of someone who is in a “position of trust.” This, unfortunately, is the first block in what ought to be the foundation of every marriage in the world. Every woman has a…
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The way we talk about the world matters. Our doctrine of creation tells us that words do not simply reflect reality. They also shape it and the way we inhabit it. Among the world’s many language groups, the Church is distinct. She is called to name things with Scriptural language,…
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When Jesus instituted the Supper, He told His disciples to continue to ?do this?Eas a memorial of Him. The ?this?Eis not only the eating and drinking, but the whole ritual, which includes the moment when the bread is broken. In making this part of the rite, Jesus was linking the…
Our confession that we believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, is foundational to everything in Christian faith, but it is a serious error to limit God?s creativity to the original act of creation. Such a view is implicitly Deist: Deists think that God created the…
Obsession with sacraments and liturgy seems ?catholic?Eto many in our day, but it will not be news to anyone who has read and absorbed Schaff ?s Principle of Protestantism that these concerns were near the heart of the Reformation. Over a century ago, Schaff had grasped that the Reformation was…
David Noel Freedman ‘s book, The Unity of the Hebrew Bible contains a number of fascinating and compelling suggestions about the structure of the OT. 1) He suggests that the Hebrew Bible can be neatly divided into 4 sections of almost equal length: Torah, 5 books, 80,000 words Former prophets,…
NT Wright gives a characteristically stimulating overview of Rom 5-8 as a retelling of the exodus narrative. Here are some of the key elements of his interpretation: 1) He begins with the observation that Rom 8 describes the church’s future inheritance of the cosmos. The cosmos will be transformed at…
As many commentators have suggested (Douglas Moo most clearly), there is an inclusio around Romans 5-8 that shows it is a distinct unit. Below are some of the key words shared between 5:1-11 and 8:14-39, with some comments: 1) DIKAIOO: “justify”: 5:1, 9; 6:7; 8:30, 33: This verb, prominent in…
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