Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
This is Part II of a 2-part essay. For Part 1, click HERE . Covenant context Most Bible teachers apply the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles directly to Christians today without any thought of the historical – and more importantly, legal – context. The ministry of Christ and the…
Introduction The book of Revelation polarises Christians. Some become obsessed with ‘cracking its code’ while others throw it into the too hard basket. Thankfully, recent advances in biblical theology enable us to liberate this enigmatic book from both mistreatment and obscurity. The prophecy is attractive to some because of its…
I'm considering the possibility that the life of Abraham as recounted in Genesis contains a typological prophecy of the history of Israel; that is, that the events in Abraham’s life broadly anticipate events in Israel’s history. This kind of pattern is seen in the case of Moses, for instance, because…
According to this recent article in The Atlantic , teenage promiscuity is decreasing. Apparently there is a general "decline in dating" which also "tracks with a decline in sexual activity." The figures are startling: The drop is the sharpest for ninth-graders, among whom the number of sexually active teens has…
"Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'" - Matthew 22:37 Jesus says that this is the most important commandment: to love God with our heart, soul, and mind. If we obey this command,…
At the last supper, Jesus took bread and, having given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples while saying, "Take, eat, this is My body given for you. Do this for My memorial." What Jesus did was recognized by the disciples, because it took place every morning…
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“The religion of our time,” says the writer known as Bronze Age Pervert , “is the unquestioned and absolute worship of human equality.” That may not be the religion, but it’s certainly one of them, and one that threatens to dissolve the moral and social distinctions and hierarchies on which…
Paul is a biblical theologian, and Romans 9—11 is among the bibliest section in any of Paul’s epistles. As noted by N.T. Wright (whose Paul and the Faithfulness of God I follow throughout), nearly forty percent of the text is taken up with quotations from Scripture, a higher concentration than…
Romans isn’t an ordo salutis with eschatological (chapters 9—11) and practical (Romans 12—15) appendixes. When we read Romans as a mini-systematic theology, we’re liable to read even chapters 9—11 as a theological treatise about predestination or divine sovereignty, supported by biblical citations. That gets things backwards. Paul isn’t using Scripture…
David Bentley Hart responds below to my rejoinder . Read this article on the "literal sense" in pre-modern exegesis. There is no rule regarding which fathers thought which stories only myths and which not. As for my historical-critical flourishes, I never attributed them to the fathers. You asked me whether…
Thanks to David Bentley Hart for responding to my critique of his book, and for the bracing clarity of his response. I think we now know where we stand. I hope I achieve similar clarity below, as I briefly sketch a few lines of rejoinder. 1) Of course, the Old…
Romans 8:1-4 follows on the anguished dilemma of Romans 7: Who can deliver from the body of death? Not the law, as Paul has shown. Torah intensifies the predicament, dividing even the faithful Israelite into a schizophrenic who inwardly delights in the law but cannot get his body to comply.…
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