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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Newbigin ( Faith and Power: Christianity and Islam in ‘Secular’ Britain ) endorses Os Guinness’s idea of “chartered pluralism,” but argues vigorously that the gospel provides the only framework within which it can be realized. “What is unique about the Christian gospel,” he says, “is that those who are called…
In his contribution to Faith and Power: Christianity and Islam in ‘Secular’ Britain , the late Leslie Newbigin gives an eschatological perspective on the notion of a Christian society: “The focus of the biblical vision is on the final vindication of God in the gift of his perfect reign, symbolized…
The Greek koilia can mean belly (Matthew 15:17) or womb (Mathew 19:12). What happens when we try out the second translation on passages that normally use the first? John 7:38 now reads, “He that believes on me . . . out of his womb shall flow rivers of living water.”…
In the “jealousy rite” of Numbers 5, a woman suspected of adultery has to drink a concoction of holy water and holy dust and a written curse. If she is an adulteress, the water will go into her and cause bitterness, swelling in the thigh, and a wasting in her…
Do sacraments have power “in themselves”? The question is often posed in a confusing fashion. One confusion is the assumption that non -sacramental things do have power to accomplish things “in themselves.” Created things have powers only because of God’s continuous gift, so in an absolute sense nothing created has…
Peter Leithart and James B. Jordan have been highly influential in my life and ministry. Leithart’s book The Kingdom and the Power was an important book in my journey, giving me a solid foundation to see a biblical churchly vision, at a time when I was majoring on minors. Couple…
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