Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Timon Cline wrote recently that “theonomists” didn’t run Puritan New England. 1 He is correct, in his major thesis, that the claim that “Puritanism and the natural law tradition are antithetical” is “wildly ahistorical.” Mr. Cline demonstrates that Puritans repeatedly extolled natural law. Besides the Puritan sources Mr. Cline mustered,…
The Church is the land of the walking trees. In Mark’s Gospel, the identity of Jesus is slowly and progressively revealed. Though St. Mark announces at the beginning of his narrative that Jesus Christ is “the Son of God” (1:1), this is a reality that must be spoon-fed to His…
All Scripture is of ultimate significance as the word of God, but it may be helpful to think about what makes a book (in this case, a letter) possibly unique within the canon. In this case, the “general” nature of Ephesians should stand out, but it often is not recognized…
Where do we draw the lines between what is right and wrong? This question is fundamental to civilization, fundamental to a free society. To put this question in the bluntest and most offense terms: if there is a time to kill — which Solomon says there is — whom shall…
This article was originally posted in May of 1994. 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…
Jonah’s Home The story of JONAH belongs in the book of KINGS. JONAH balances the story of the unnamed Judean prophet (1K13) in KINGS’ literary structure. Each story describes a journeying prophet that crosses land or sea to confront a wayward king. The two stories are located during the reigns…
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Scot Hafemann has recently published a collection of previously published essays on Pauline themes, Paul’s Message and Ministry in Covenant Perspective . Hafemann’s characteristic themes are here, most reflected in the title: A covenantal understanding of Paul’s gospel and theology, a pastoral focus, an emphasis on the role of suffering…
The first six chapters of Revelation are a pep talk. Again and again, Jesus makes promises to the victors, those who overcome ( nikao ). They’ll get the tree of life, escape the second death, eat hidden manna, gain authority over the nations, receive a white robe, become pillars in…
Revelation 10 opens with a vision of an angel coming down from heaven. If the angel isn’t Jesus, he is Jesus’ doppelganger: Clothed in a cloud, with a rainbow crown, voice like a lion, carrying a book, like the one the Lamb opened (Revelation 5-7). When the angel speaks, seven…
In his recent study of John of Damascus, Perichoresis and Personhood , Charles Twombly expresses concern that contemporary theologians use traditional concepts and formulae “in a manner that betrays little understanding of how they actually developed.” By attending to the way John uses the term, we can “lay claim to…
A lovely passage on Providence from Augustine ( City of God , 5.11). God cannot leave the kingdoms of men, “their dominations and servitudes,” outside His providence. That is not the kind of God He is. Instead: “God supreme and true, with His Word and Holy Spirit (which three are…
Donald Norwood’s Reforming Rome is a study of Karl Barth’s contributions and responses to Vatican II. At the outset, Norwood has to establish that Barth, polemical as he was, was truly a catholic theologian. He offers several lines of argument: “In his first teaching post at Gottingen in 1921 [Barth]…
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