Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
I thought it might be good to put this up here, since it is 14 years old, and itself reflects earlier discussion. From this you can see that we at BH have been considering this notion for quite some time. Clearly, the last word has not been said. — James…
Hopefully, my commentary on James will be out later this year. But here are a few chiasms for your consideration. I think the James 5 chiasm orginally came from Doug Jordan. The entire book of James is focused on how the pastors and leaders (“brothers”) of the church use their…
In my first post I noted that the parables of Jesus were not simply illustrative stories. They are really nothing like the kind of simple, homely illustrations that preachers often use to explain difficult concepts to their congregations. Just to be clear: there’s nothing wrong with illustrating one’s sermonic statements.…
Ephesians is often treated as a pure type example of the Pauline method that “the indicative preceds the imperative.” But what Paul does first is pray . Simply reading verse 3 and following involves readers in a prayer of thanksgiving to God–and much more so for those listening to the…
Yesterday, I took part with my oldest son in a church-sponsored city outreach project (not because I’m especially prone to such behavior but because my son has a Boy Scout requirement that this would help him meet). Before we were sent out on our various jobs, the leader gave a…
There is a scene in Prince Caspian , the second in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia that helps explain why it is we have four Gospels, that is four accounts of the Good News of Jesus Christ—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It is the account of Lucy’s longed-for experience…
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Andrzej Toczyski's The "Geometrics" of the Rahab Story offers an insightful, multi-layered close reading of Joshua 2. His syntactical analysis of the chapter examines the features of the text that steer the reader's involvement in the story. His aim is to show how Joshua has been and is a "vehicle…
David Goldman is a conservative and a patriot, and is not given to hyperbole. But he describes the current US attitude toward Chinas a "xenophobic" and "ugly," and accuses fellow conservative Victor Davis Hanson of "crazy talk" about China. In response to Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods, "Chinese officials are…
Haley Goranson Jacob's Conformed to the Image of His Son is an exploration of Paul's theology of glory. Jacob's focus is on the meaning of the phrase in her title, drawn from Romans 8. She finds the several common interpretations of the phrase wanting: Conformity to the Son isn't physical…
The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries witnessed, Charles Taylor argues, the development of the "nova." At that time, "the alternatives open to unbelief are multiplied and enriched." After World War II, these options are diffused to the whole of Western societies, and this produces a "super-nova" ( A Secular…
In his contribution to The Future of Hope , John Milbank offers a description of postmodernity and suggests ways for the church to respond. Postmodernism may be a thing of the past; we're supposed to be in post-postmodernity nowadays. Still, much of what Milbank describes is still with us, and…
The Third Word assumes that we carry the Lord’s name. What it prohibits is bearing, carrying, or lifting that name “in vain” or “emptily.” The word can mean “false,” and bearing the name “falsely” is one of the sins that the Lord prohibits here. That does involve speech. This phrasing…
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