Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
We've all heard it, too often to count. The Apostle Paul was a misgynistic homophobic pro-slavery authoritarian, probably a repressed homosexual himself, the first Puritan - Puritan here defined as "someone who cannot sleep if someone in the world is having fun." To call this a caricature is too generous.…
Some of our forefathers believed in reading/singing the psalms in order. Today, when the psalms are even used at all, they tend to be used randomly, though sometimes tied to a church calendar or to the pastor’s sermon. The Bible does not bind us to any particular practice, but there…
". . . and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4). Paul’s passing comment about the rock that followed the Israelites in the wilderness has often been treated as a bit of…
The story of Hezekiah’s illness and recovery is familiar to every child who has attended Sunday School. Informed that he would die, faithful King Hezekiah pleaded in tears for a longer life. God heard his prayers and saw his tears, and promised fifteen more years. As a sign that He…
When viewed as an allegory of biblical history, the controversial third act of Danny Boyle’s gripping sci-fi adventure is transformed from an illogical divergence into a blinding revelation. The following analysis contains spoilers for the movie “Sunshine.” The Creation Week is the elementary type that orders everything God has said…
In my last post , I told you the story of my current desire to understand philosopher D.C. Schindler’s metaphysical work. With this post, I start in to the venture. I begin by reflecting on what it is to be a thing. This matter always makes me laugh, and makes…
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Matthew 10:10: The worker is worthy of his nourishment. Jesus sent the Twelve out with no means of support – no food, no money to purchase food, no extra clothes. They were to be like Israel, relying on the Lord to maintain them as they went out into the wilderness.…
Matthew 10:8: freely you received; freely give. The Twelve are not like the rest of Israel, lost sheep and oppressed. They have a shepherd, a good shepherd, the best shepherd, who summons, calls them, commissions them, heals them, sustains them, feeds them, cares for them. They have received all this…
“I love Jesus, but I can’t stand the church. I obey Jesus, but I won’t submit to any human authorities.” We hear these sentiments a lot in American Christianity. American Christians like to separate Jesus from His people, the Shepherd’s authority from the authority of His undershepherds. Jesus doesn’t allow…
Jesus sends the Twelve to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. That fits the biblical pattern of “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Israel is the first site of mission. For many, though, the mission to Israel is a quick stepping stone to the mission…
Daniel Patte points out in his “structural commentary” on Matthew that there is a narrative logic to Matthew 8-13. Jesus comes healing, casting out demons, cleansing the unclean, raising the dead, all the while proclaiming the reign of God that these miracles incarnate. In chapter 10, He sends the Twelve…
Shakespeare’s Claudio and Hero are usually played as palely conventional lovers, a foil to the sparkling sparring of Benedick and Beatrice. A recent British National Theatre production of Much Ado gives a more colorful Claudio and Hero. According to the TLS reviewer, Laurie Maguire, “Claudio (Daniel Hawkesford) is alarmed by…
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