Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Summary In what follows, I will consider the “year-stamps” employed in Scripture, i.e., statements of the form, “Such-and-such an event took place in the Xth year of Y.” In the process, I will suggest some ways in which the Biblical narrative might relate to events in the extra-Biblical world, though…
In the first essay on the parable of the Prodigal Son, I suggested that the problems commentators and others encounter in interpreting Jesus three-part parable are not accidental. These are not just problems in our ignorance of cultural background. They are intentional features of the stories —stories designed to poke…
The story of the Prodigal Son is perhaps the most well-known story in the Bible. As others have observed, it may also be one of the most misunderstood. In two short essays, I will point out features of this story that are commonly neglected, aspects of Jesus’ parable that might…
The parable of Lazarus and the nameless rich man is not an independent story. It is part of a long context that begins in Luke 15:1, where Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners and the scribes and Pharisees grumble. In response to their hardheartedness, Jesus tells a three-part…
The Bible is written so that even when a reader cannot pick up on what might be deeper or more detailed aspects of a text, there is virtually always a message to be heard. In the ancient world, where the “reader” of Scripture would likely be a church official facing…
The distinction between garden (or vineyard) and field begins in Genesis 2. This relates to the ordering of the formless world. Plants of the field are contrasted with the garden planted by God in Genesis 2:5&8. Later on, under the Old Covenant the Israelites will be required to keep their…
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Algis Valiunas has little affection for Gabriel Garcia Marquez , the Columbian author of One Hundred Years of Solitude , inventor of “magical realism,” and one of the most widely read and best-loved living writers. In a brief review of the first volume of Marquez’s memoirs, Valiunas summarizes some of…
Joseph Epstein ” has a very funny, and highly critical, review of Alice Flaherty ‘s The Midnight Disease , a book that seeks in neuroscience answers to questions about why writers write and what is happening when they cannot (a book, by the way, that was breathlessly reviewed recently on…
David Warren examines Edward Said ‘s Orientalism and the more recent Occidentalism by Ian Buruma “and Avishai Margalit in the April issue of Commentary . His critique of Said is devastating and he also finds the Buruma/Margalit volume unsatisfying, but the most interesting bit in the piece comes near the…
Agnes Howard reports in The Weekly Standard on new developments in prenatal screening. Last winter, it was reported that scientists had put together a “combination of maternal blood tests and ultrasounds to detect Down syndrome at 10-13 weeks,” and a more recent report in Lancet argued for increasing access to…
Mark Stricherz writes in the April 5 Weekly Standard that the Republicans have everything to gain by making gay marriage an election-year issue: “opposition to gay marriage is a far less narrow phenomenon than supposed. The Republican position is, in fact, at least a 60-40 issue, one that unites their…
Promise of Spring Between the snowy banks, The living water flows. A pledge of rhododendrun A promise of the rose.
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