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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When Christians warn that the adoption of same-sex marriage laws will lead to persecution of traditional Christians, secularists think we’re being hysterical. But then the mayor of Houston subpoenas sermons from pastors who have addressed homosexuality from the pulpit. And the Idaho couple that runs a wedding chapel in beautiful…
Tamara Jacoby reports at the Atlantic on the important role that apprenticeship or “dual training” (classroom and on-the-job) programs play in equipping European workers. She acknowledges that the US has its own tradition of apprenticeship, but adds: “like most kinds of vocational education, it fell out of fashion in recent…
The incarnation without the cross and exaltation doesn’t accomplish salvation. But the incarnation ain’t nothing. As Adam Kotsko says in his treatment of Irenaeus ( The Politics of Redemption , 78), “the Incarnation of Christ simply taken in itself brings God into a much more intimate relationship with humanity, accustoming…
Matthew Levering has a delightful summary of Thomas’s delightful description of the resurrection body as subtle, agile, and full of “clarity” ( Christ’s Fulfillment of Torah and Temple , 133-4). Subtlety, Levering explains, is “the ability of the body to penetrate.” Bodies will remain bodies, but “the penetration of glorified…
For Thomas, the Torah was not simply another secular constitution. It was divine law, aimed at establishing not merely order or even justice but at encouraging charity. Thomas was echoing Jesus in his stress on the weightier things of the law - justice, mercy, truth. As Matthew Levering ( Christ’s…
Discussing Christ as the end of the law in his preface to Pierre-Robert Olivetan’s translation of the New Testament, Calvin writes: “Therefore, when you hear that the gospel presents you Jesus Christ in whom all the promises and gifts of God have been accomplished; and when it declares that he…
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