Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
We've all heard it, too often to count. The Apostle Paul was a misgynistic homophobic pro-slavery authoritarian, probably a repressed homosexual himself, the first Puritan - Puritan here defined as "someone who cannot sleep if someone in the world is having fun." To call this a caricature is too generous.…
Some of our forefathers believed in reading/singing the psalms in order. Today, when the psalms are even used at all, they tend to be used randomly, though sometimes tied to a church calendar or to the pastor’s sermon. The Bible does not bind us to any particular practice, but there…
". . . and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4). Paul’s passing comment about the rock that followed the Israelites in the wilderness has often been treated as a bit of…
The story of Hezekiah’s illness and recovery is familiar to every child who has attended Sunday School. Informed that he would die, faithful King Hezekiah pleaded in tears for a longer life. God heard his prayers and saw his tears, and promised fifteen more years. As a sign that He…
When viewed as an allegory of biblical history, the controversial third act of Danny Boyle’s gripping sci-fi adventure is transformed from an illogical divergence into a blinding revelation. The following analysis contains spoilers for the movie “Sunshine.” The Creation Week is the elementary type that orders everything God has said…
In my last post , I told you the story of my current desire to understand philosopher D.C. Schindler’s metaphysical work. With this post, I start in to the venture. I begin by reflecting on what it is to be a thing. This matter always makes me laugh, and makes…
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Pastor Rich Lusk observed in a sermon that the name “Jairus” (Mark 5) means “Yah awakens” ( yah ‘ur ). Others have suggested an etymology that connects ”-rus” with the verb “to give light - “Yah illumines.” Both fit with the baptismal symbolism of the passage. Jesus comes to a…
George Friedman doesn’t think so . Putin’s posturing over Ukraine continues his strategy of expanding Russian power and, just as importantly, of projecting the image of Russian power: “The Russians cannot simply allow [Ukrainian independence] to stand. Not only does it create a new geopolitical reality, but in the longer…
Near the end of his The Great Degeneration , Niall Ferguson quotes Geoffrey West’s analysis of the increasing economies of scale that come with urbanization. West argues, “the bigger the city, the more wages you can expect, the more educational institutions in principle, [the] more cultural events, [the] more patents…
What do we think with? wonders Craig Keen in After Crucifixion (xii). We think we think with the brain, that “elongated sphere suspended on a thin neck between the brilliant, ethereal blue sky far above to which it is drawn, and the thick, heavy torso with its stabilizing limbs held…
Ancient worshipers inspected entrails to see if their sacrifices had been accepted. Israel apparently never did so. There was nothing visible to tell them that Yahweh received them. Only His word: “that he may be accepted.” In this as in other ways, sacrifice was a pedagogy in faith and humility…
Maya Jasanoff reviews Rose George’s Ninety Percent of Everything , a study of the gigantic and largely unnoticed shipping industry. Shipping is one of the key factors in globalization, and today’s shipping is cheap and efficient as a result of “containerization”: “In the 1960s, the shipping industry was transformed by…
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