Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
When a certain Samaritan village refused Jesus’ attempt to visit, James and John asked Jesus if they should call down fire from heaven upon it. The allusion to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is evident, but, as the story shows, James’ and John’s thinking was entirely warped. Jesus rebuked…
In the first part of this essay, I considered paideia (formation)and mimesis (imitation) in the context of Aristotle’s virtue ethics and that of the New Testament. The overall concern is to realize how relevant is Aristotle’s ethics both to diagnosing our current malaise and to enculturing our children, though we…
In these posts I am inviting you into my philosophical reflection about integration , the absence of which we feel palpably in our fragmented world. My hope is for us to understand it more deeply, and to be ourselves reintegrated in the process. At this point in this extended inquiry…
It’s hard to imagine someone, centuries from now, mistaking our culture for a moral highpoint in the history of the West. Increasingly the news is dominated by school shootings, abusive policing, sexploitation of women, and increasing rates of suicide, addiction, and divorce. In response, the Left calls for regulations, surveillance,…
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” (Ps. 34:17-18) God is listening. He is listening when we ask Him for financial provision,…
The allusions to Mt. Sinai in the transfiguration story point to Jesus as a new Moses and even more as Yahweh, the God who met Moses and Elijah on the mountain. The fact that Jesus, Moses, and Elijah spoke of Jesus’ “exodus” suggests that the mountain of transfiguration was intended…
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Given its prominence in the NT, it’s striking that the LXX rarely speaks of “breaking bread.”  One of the few times the phrase occurs is in Jeremiah 16:7, where, strikingly, it is joined to a statement about a “cup of consolation.”  Broken bread and cup is Eucharistic. Jeremiah is warning…
Matthew 26:17-19 is a chiastically ordered pericope, centered on Jesus’ announcement that His “time is at hand” and that He intends to do the Passover. A. Disciples approach: prepare pascha ? B. Jesus commands: Go to city C. My time is at hand; do pascha B’. Disciples did as Jesus…
My co-pastor Toby Sumpter wondered whether Matthew was up to something in describing the first day of the feast as the “first of unleavened” ( te prote ton azumon , 26:17).  It seems so.  The other gospels don’t use the same phrase; Mark says “first day” and Luke uses the…
Through much of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is surrounded by multitudes who marvel at His teaching and works (5:1; 7:28; 9:8; 12:23; 13:2; etc.).  They marvel all the way up to His battles in the temple (21:46; 22:33).  The last time He teaches a multitude is in chapter 23 (v. 1).…
To head off the possibility that the disciples will steal Jesus’ body, the priests and Pharisees ask Pilate for a guard at the tomb (Matthew 27:62-65).  If the disciples are successful, “the last deception will be worse than the first” (v. 64). It’s a familiar phrase: Jesus Himself uses it…
After Jesus’ Passover with His disciples, they leave singing for the Mount of Olives.  Last time they were on the Mount, Jesus predicted the destruction of a temple.  His return to the mountain marks the initial fulfillment of that prophecy: Jesus is the temple, torn down and raised again in…
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