Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Because of sin, the arts sometimes do not serve to glorify but to debase. Sinful men make their environments ugly, and create ugly art to “enhance” their ugly words. But since all men are still God’s images, no men are able to live with such ugliness all the time. Thus,…
Arts and literature reviews in most evangelical Christian publications generally approach their subjects in terms of ideology. We are told whether or not the film or book is acceptable in terms of morals, sexual graphicness, and theological accuracy. While there is definitely a place for such reviews, I fear that…
We speak of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The early Church tended to speak of Him as Father, Word, and Spirit. In this short essay, I want to suggest some other ways to think of the Trinity, ways that I have found pastorally helpful in my own life…
I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and guard My commandments (Ex. 20:5-6). The Second Word forbids acts of ceremonial…
8. The Table of Nations If we assume births every two years, and about 30 years between generations (cp. Gen. 11:12-24), we can come up with an approximate series of dates for the generations recorded in Genesis 10. We shall assume that all three of Noah’s sons had their firstborn…
Zechariah’s first prophecy (Zech. 1:1-6) was delivered in the eighth month of the second year of Darius. The notation of this date serves a number of purposes. Most obviously, it relates Zechariah’s prophecies to those of Haggai. By the time Zechariah delivered his first prophecy, Haggai had already chided the…
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Justyn Terry argues that Kant’s critique of substitutionary atonement is misleading because he assumes that there are three parties to the transaction involved in the atonement - God, sinful humans, and an innocent victim. There are only two, since the innocent victim is God human flesh. The transaction looks different…
One of the most “apocalyptic” texts in the Bible is in Ecclesiastes 12. Solomon encourages his reader to remember the Creator before the world ends - before the sun, moon, and stars go dark; before the clouds return; before all civic activity grinds to a halt. Most commentators, though, recognize…
It’s common to divide atonement theories into subjective and objective theories, and to classify Calvin’s atonement theology as a slight variant from Anselm’s objective theory. Stephen Edmondson thinks otherwise ( Calvin’s Christology , 110-1). He doesn’t question that Calvin stresses the objective character of the passion: “In his expiatory sacrifice,…
In the darkness, give us light. In danger, cover us with Your mighty power. In want, provide for us. From idols of power, good Lord, deliver us. From those who enact injustice by decree, good Lord, deliver us. From cruelty, slavery, and the shedding of innocent blood, good Lord, deliver…
In a 1974 radio address, Fulton Sheen raised the question of how “we in America ever get into this idea that freedom means having no boundaries and no limits?” His answer isn’t about the student movements or anything about the Sixties. It’s about Hiroshima: “I think it began on the…
While Joab and others lead the army of Judah against Absalom, David waits for news at the gate of Mahanaim (2 Samuel 18). It puts him in the same position as Eli the priest early in 1 Samuel, who also waited at a gate for news of a battle (1…
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