Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Why there is more to Jephthah than meets than eye It was not that long ago that I realized the Jephthah-story and the Jesus-story were basically the same story. Sounds crazy, I know. But here is a one-paragraph synopsis of both: The people of God have gone their own way,…
G.K. Chesterton famously said that the Gospels don’t reveal Jesus’ mirth. It’s true we never catch Jesus laughing. But can we believe He never did? I don’t think so. Laughter is human, and Jesus was fully human. Jesus promised that those who mourned would laugh. He mourned; would He not…
Matthew 2 has all the elements of an exodus story. There’s a murderous king, who slaughters Jewish babies. There’s a infant who will be Israel’s future deliverer, saved from the murderous king so He can later return to save His people and lead them to the Promised land. There’s an…
The calendar of Israel was primarily theological, centered on commemorating the salvific acts of God, but also agricultural, celebrating the creation-restoring effects of those salvific acts. The feasts of the first month celebrated the reviving of the world in the Spring, and typified the cutting off of the Savior in…
The chiastic shape corresponds to the shape of human life. This should not surprise us, because we are made in the image of God, and God is manifest in Word and Spirit. If we are living epistles, our lives will look a bit like the literary shape of the books…
Back in January, Venkatesh Rao wrote a fascinating post on the Ribbonfarm blog, discussing different forms of models of narrative. Engaging with Ursula LeGuin’s talk ‘The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction’ , Rao explores her contrast between the (male) ‘hero narrative’ and the (female) ‘carrier-bag story’, and suggests a third…
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I’ve argued in several recent venues that Gen 15 is not the story of Abraham’s conversion. He was a worshiper of God before that time, and Hebrews 11 is explicit that Abraham was a believer from the time he left Ur (or when he left his father’s house). Unless we…
I’ve argued in several recent venues that Gen 15 is not the story of Abraham’s conversion. He was a worshiper of God before that time, and Hebrews 11 is explicit that Abraham was a believer from the time he left Ur (or when he left his father’s house). Unless we…
Accommodation is a way of handling the “problem” of theological language. Since God is the infinite Creator and we are creatures, He can speak to us only by “accommodating” His language to our capacities. This sometimes goes so far as to suggest that God has given us “divine misinformation” in…
Leon Wieseltier , not surprisingly, has a blisteringly negative review of Gibson’s film in the March 8 issue of TNR . Along the way, though, Wieseltier’s article is inadvertently insightful. Here is his description of the violence of the torture: “There is only the relentless destruction and dehumanization of a…
The Winter 2004 issue of The Wilson Quarterly also has an article on Darwin’s studies of earthworms, in which Darwin made innovative contributions. Darwin was inspired to study works after a visit to his uncle, Josiah Wedgewood: “Upon arriving, he scarcely had time to put down his hat before Wedgewood…
The Winter 2004 issue of The Wilson Quarterly also has an article on Darwin’s studies of earthworms, in which Darwin made innovative contributions. Darwin was inspired to study works after a visit to his uncle, Josiah Wedgewood: “Upon arriving, he scarcely had time to put down his hat before Wedgewood…
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