Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Midwives are rarely mentioned in Scripture, but play a prominent role in the first chapter of Exodus. The word midwife is used seven times in verses 15-22, though it is used only twice elsewhere in the Old Testament. The reason, I think, is not merely that the midwives were heroic…
Leviathan (41:1-11) is the climax of the theophany, the culmination of the Lord’s speech. His final answer to Job’s injudicious charges against God’s justice. After hearing God rehearse the characteristics of Leviathan and His absolute power over him, Job instantly repents in dust and ashes. He confesses, "I know now…
Our purpose in this study is to lay out the chronology and history of the Kingdom of Judah from the reign of King Josiah to the completion of the exile of the Jews under Nebuchadnezzar, with particular attention to the events recorded in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The Empire of Assyria…
Protestants have always insisted that the sacraments bring no benefit without a response of faith, but this seems to undermine infant baptism, since infants do not appear to be able to exercise faith. Luther and Calvin held together their insistence on faith with infant baptism by claiming that infants can…
Traditional Presbyterian theologians regularly cite 1 Corinthians 11:28 as an argument against the practice of paedocommunion. Children must be able “to examine themselves” before they come to the table. Supposedly this text demands a certain level of intellectual capability as well as the capacity to engage in self-conscious introspection, both…
Yahweh’s two speeches at the end of the book of Job (38-41) should bring some closure to the book. The prologue has the whole cosmic order arrayed against the blameless and upright Job, "a man who feared God and shunned evil" (1:1, 8; 2:3). Yahweh’s capstone speeches affirm God’s absolute…
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Ox, Lion, Eagle, Man. The faces of the cherubim. And the faces of four constellations of the Zodiac: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius, spaced every four constellations around the ecliptic. Scorpio ? He’s no eagle. There is an eagle constellation, Aquila, but it’s along the celestial equator rather than the ecliptic;…
There is war in heaven, Michael & Co. versus Dragon and angels. Michael wins and casts the dragon from heaven to earth, where he chases down the woman’s offspring (Revelation 12). Caird ( A Commentary on the Revelation of St. John the Divine , 155-7) draws from this an integrated…
John sees in heaven a woman in labor ready to give birth to a son while a dragon waits to devour the newborn (Revelation 12). It’s a scene of Mary and Jesus and Herod, Eve and the Seed and Satan, Israel and the Messiah. It is also a story that…
One of the ways Augustine distinguishes between the “invisible” and “visible” church is in terms of the complex interaction of Old and New covenants ( On Baptism, Against the Donatists , 1.15 in St. Augustin the Writings Against the Manicheans and Against the Donatists ). Old and New are not,…
In the course of his On Baptism, Against the Donatists (in St. Augustin the Writings Against the Manicheans and Against the Donatists ), Augustine considers the case of someone who seeks baptism “in deceit.” Are his sins remitted? Yes, Augustine says, but only for a moment. The “holy power” of…
Jesus Is Lord, Caesar Is Not: Evaluating Empire in New Testament Studies , edited by Scot McKnight and Joseph B. Modica, aims to provide an accurate and balanced treatment of the New Testament’s treatment of empire. In their introduction, McKnight and Modica define empire criticism as a mode of interpretation…
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