Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
One of the curiosities of the New Testament revelation is its focus on Galilee. The region of Galilee was given to Asher, Zebulun, Naphtali, and Issachar, and the events of Judges 4-8 occurred there, so it had some importance in Israelite history. But when the tribe of Ephraim led the…
Numbers 3:40-51 tells us that the Levites were substituted for the firstborn of Israel. The firstborn belonged to God, as stated in Exodus 13:12-13 and 22:29. It is clear that the first group of firstborn claimed by God were those He saved at the first Passover (Ex. 12). These should…
I have lived and worked in Presbyterian circles since I became convinced of the Reformed faith over twenty years ago. Thus, it is easiest and most appropriate for me to issue criticisms and to call for reformation in the Presbyterian churches. Both Scripture and my own experience, and my observation…
And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory...(John 1:14) Commentaries on John, discussing the Word or Logos in John 1, routinely turn to Greek philosophy and say that John is using a term and at least part of an idea familiar in the ancient…
John Wenham’s Redating Matthew, Mark & Luke: A Fresh Assault on the Synoptic Problem 1 is an impressively detailed treatment of the "synoptic problem." I lack both the patience and the knowledge to evaluate Wenham’s contribution to that vexing question. My purpose instead is to summarize his conclusions concerning the…
Commentators do not agree on the contents of the Book of Seven Seals (Revelation 5:1). Some see it as the New Covenant; others as the whole Word of God; others as the book of life; and others as the record of the Old Creation that is now being brought to…
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Speech exists that we may "lovingly create names," writes Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy ( In the Cross of Reality , 149). "Speaking is always courting" (149). Courtrooms exist for those times when speech falters. In a courtroom, speech turns from courtship to dispute and this setting changes the character of speech: "In…
Jay Zysk's Shadow and Substance is a recent contribution to a growing literature linking early modern theology with early modern drama. Zysk focuses on the ways Reformation disputes about the Eucharist play into plays, how Eucharistic semiotics shapes understandings of bodies and signs, flesh and spirit, letter and figure, words…
For Luther, faith isn't mere assent to truth, nor even confidence and trust in a distant savior. As David Fink puts it, "Faith . . . becomes the unitive force," or, in Luther's words, it "takes hold of Christ and has Him present, enclosing Him as the ring encloses a…
In his analysis of Luther's treatment of Galatians (in Reformation Readings of Paul ), David Fink gives a brief overview of pre-Reformation interpretations of the letter. Jerome said that the letter "is concerned especially with establishing the 'cessation of the old Law and the introduction of the new Law.'" Jerome…
Vico's claim that verum et factum convertuntur , "the true and the made are convertible," has been taken as a sign of the foundational atheism of modernity. Benedict XVI sees Vico's claim as a secularization, a turn from the uncreated truth that is God to constructed human things. As Robert…
"Liberals and communists," writes Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy ( In the Cross of Reality ), "have in common that they wish to make do without church and dogma, and indeed without faith. . . . reason is enough, for we can say what we think" (141). Both retain the term "believe," but…
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