Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
A couple years ago, I read Paul Graham’s ruminations on higher- and lower-level languages in Hackers and Painters . Although he’s talking about computer languages, his insights have bearing on biblical language and hermeneutics. So bear with me while I lay out some of the basic points, and then we’ll…
Toward the end of the Revelation, John sees a vision of a new heaven and a new earth. The old created order in Adam has passed away, and the new order under the lordship of Jesus has been established. Within this new creation John also sees “the holy city, the…
I have been talking with you about integration—an elusive, allusive, word, pregnant with something we long for. I have suggested that what might be rightly a natural longing has been exacerbated by our own modern Western milieu’s dominating devotion to bits and bytes, a prevailing sense of fragmentation. Fragmentation is…
Sunday morning found me kneeling at the foot of my bed, trembling, pebbles of sweat leaping off the edge of my brow and nose, and hitting the floor in front of me, but not from piety was I procumbent; though as a minister for over a decade, I had made…
In April of this year, President Trump issued a zero-tolerance border policy that separated families, specifically children from their parents who had crossed the USA/Mexico border be it illegally or as asylum seekers . In mid-June, Trump dropped this policy of splitting up families, however there are still children who…
During the Middle Ages, Joseph, the husband of Mary, was the butt of many jokes. Medieval theater and art often depicted him as something of a buffoon, decidedly marginal to the gospel story. In part, this was the unfortunate obverse of the exaltation of Mary; any man would suffer by…
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In his study of faith-based criminal justice initiatives, More God, Less Crime , Baylor’s Byron Johnson describes the puzzlement of leaders of the prison ministry, Champions for Life, over Johnson’s finding that “born-again prisoners were just as likely to return to prison as other comparable prisoners” (157). They cites 2…
“Four corners of the earth” is taken as a piece of ancient cosmology, embedded in the Bible. But the Bible historicizes this cartography as it historicizes much else. The phrase “four corners” isn’t applied to land until Isaiah 11:12, which speaks of the Lord calling together His dispersed people from…
James Dunn has observes that Paul’s letters are written for the defense and elaboration of the gospel. This is certainly the case with Galatians. Whatever other issues Paul raises about circumcision, purity rules, promises and Torah are all directed to clarity in the proclamation of good news. Paul identifies himself…
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the disciples laid their robes on the ground before Him, creating a carpet. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the backs of the disciples, elevated like a king. It’s a gesture found only once in the OT: When Jehu is proclaimed king. Jesus, the new Jehu,…
My initial reaction to Douglas Campbell’s analysis of “Justification theory” ( Deliverance of God , 11-95) was quite positive. I still think Campbell scores some points against the individualism and implicit contractualism of some Protestant work on justification. But on a more careful reading of his argument, I’ve come to…
“Who are these, and where have they come from?” an elder asks John about the innumerable multitude (Revelation 7:13). John answers, “You know,” and the elder does know, as he goes on to explain. So why the pretense of ignorance? In part, the exchange takes us back to the early…
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