Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt…
Part 5: Laying New Foundations in a Dying World As I mentioned above, the history of Israel involved several centuries as a church-without-a-culture, and then several centuries as a culture-without-a-city. To be sure, there was an informal culture around the church of the Patriarchs, but the civilization of free farmers…
In the Reformation Tradition we baptize both professing believers and their children. In the case of infants it is now commonly insisted that this is done because the children are already in covenant with God. Baptism is a sign and seal of a previously existing reality. Despite the popularity of…
Concerning Sex & the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the loaf of bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one loaf, we who are many…
Protestant-Catholic debates about the sacraments have usually taken the form of debates about sacramental efficacy. Protestants claim that Catholics believe that sacraments work ex opere operato, virtually a magical view of the sacraments. A priest goes through the motions and says the mumbo-jumbo and — presto! — the sacraments confer…
In 27.2, the Westminster Confession says that because of the “spiritual relation” between sacraments and the things they represent, “the names and effects of the one are attributed to the other.” Applied to baptism, this means that when the Bible says that we are baptized into Christ (Rom. 6), it…
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In his recent book on Austen Farrer ( Light in a Burning-Glass ), Robert Slocum notes that farrer recognized that human beungs are never themselves by themselves. Children are “like idiots in the cradle” who would remain so “if no one had smiled them into smiling back, or talked us…
An SBL paper attempts to apply post-colonial theory to the “Deuteronomistic” view of women as de-humanized sexualized temptresses. He of course places Deuteronomistic history late, and thus itself “post-colonial,” and he conveniently claims that any contrary evidence in Deuteronomy (eg, ch. 21). Most problematic: What does he gain with his…
An SBL paper yesterday suggested that Zechariah 9-14 forms the narrative substructure for 1 Peter. Both passages speak in terms of a new exodus, both talk about the death of a shepherd, both describe the fiery trials of the people of God as an inherent part of the exodus. Why…
Gregory Beale examined the OT background of John’s claim that “this is the last hour,” tracing it mostly back to Daniel 8-12, the only place where he could locate a combination of “last” and “hour.” He claimed that John was talking about the eschatological trial that was inaugurated in his…
Nicolae Roddy of Creighton University pointed out in an SBL paper that the Jews were not required to sacrifice to the emperor. It was a passing point, but it raises the question of why there would be such a massive difference between Christian and Jewish. Jews were just as monotheistic,…
Eusebius quotes selections from Dionysius of Alexandria’s response to Nepos’s millennial reading of Revelation. Dionysius notes that some believe that “the author of the book was not even one of the saints, or a member of the church, but Cerinthus, the founder of the sect called Cerinthian after him.” Dionysius…
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