Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Paul writes to Jews, “You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?” (Romans 2:22b) The English translation “rob temples” makes readers think of pagan temples. There was only one Temple for Israel, so robbing more than one would indicate other temples are in view. And if the Jews wanted to…
Two offerings Humanity’s first vocation involves guarding and serving the trees that emerge from the ground (Genesis 2:15). God provides these trees to humanity for food. A serpent appears and tempts the couple to eat from a special forbidden tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Humanity…
At the outset of the Torah (as Christians understand it), a triune God creates the heavens and earth over the course of a seven-day week. Why? What’s the connection between the three and the seven? Could a triune God have created the world over any period of time he chose?…
How relevant to the modern reader are the flying axe head of Deuteronomy 19:5 and the roof parapet of Deuteronomy 22:8? Indeed, how relevant were they to the daily lives of Israelites thirty-five hundred years ago? Suppose that accidental falls from rooftops were exceedingly uncommon in ancient Israel, or that…
1 For most of my life, the standing of the American church as a source of national social and political order was measured by reports from the front of the so-called “culture wars.” 2 Memory brings to mind battles over feminism and the ERA, so-called gay rights, the breakdown of…
But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel…’ And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the…
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W illiam Giraldi really doesn't like being mistaken for a Catholic novelist . And he doesn't much like Catholic novels of Graham Greene or of the later Walker Percy because they are too Catholic, too guided by dogma. He does like Flannery O'Connor and even though he wants to retain…
In their 1994 study of mainline decline, Vanishing Boundaries , Dean Hoge and associates offered evidence in support of Dean Kelley's thesis ( Why Conservative Churches Are Growing ). Kelley claimed that churches grow when they are “strong,” that is, when they have clear doctrinal beliefs, demand commitment, and enforce…
When Babylon the great city falls, all the inhabitants are driven out. No human sights or sounds are left - whether of music, of labor, of commerce, or of a wedding celebration (Revelation 18:22-23). But the city is inhabited by three sets of citizens: demons, unclean spirits, and unclean birds…
Clothing metaphors have long been associated in Protestantism with imputed righteousness: “Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness / My beauty are, my spotless dress.” Being “clothed with Christ” is definitely a New Testament metaphor, and the image of being “clothed in the Spirit” has deep roots in the Old Testament. In…
T he confusion about marriage in contemporary America is profound. It's a confusion about the very roots of marriage. Few confusions are more basic than the notion that marriage is essentially a matter of freedom. Scripturally, the opposite is true. Marriage is a form of bondage. Paul alludes to this…
We are awash in Lolitas - Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry. As Ira Wells says in a New Republic piece , “at a certain echelon of pop music megastardom . . . they are all Lolitas now.” Yet Wells insists that as the number of Lolitas has risen exponentially,…
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