Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
A while back a friend told me that his church had finally introduced weekly communion. He told me that they were having an 8:00 a.m. service on Sundays for anyone who wanted to have communion. At present only about five people were coming to this service, but he was hopeful…
According to James B. Jordan’s outline of Deuteronomy, the first commandment section runs from 6:1 to 11:32, and the second commandment section begins with 12:1. 1 That this division of the text is sound is confirmed by a comparison of 6:1 with 12:1. Deuteronomy 6:1 announces that "this is the…
Calling Jerusalem the "holy city" comes so naturally to Christians that it comes as something of a surprise to realize how infrequently the phrase is used in Scripture. Not only is Jerusalem rarely called holy, but in the Old Testament this classification is found only in texts that refer to…
Nicodemus’s conversation with Jesus in John 3:1-15 is often regarded as an illustration of the tremendous stupidity of the Jews of our Lord’s day. Those who take the passage this way fail to recognize the profound nature of Nicodemus’s questions and of Jesus’ answers. In verse 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus…
In his book 1994? , Harold Camping asserts that the life spans of the primeval patriarchs of Genesis 5 & 11 were actually epochs, one after another. This together with other mistakes in interpretation yields for him a creation date of 11013 B.C. From here, Camping tries to work out…
I have received a number of letters asking for my comments on this difficult passage. Here is my best shot! 2. Now I praise you because you remember me in everything, and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. This statement opens a new section…
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In a recent article on Galatians 4:21-31, Ardel Caneday argues in part that Galatians 4:22 should govern 4:24. That is, Paul’s claim “it is written” should be extended to his statement that “which is allegorical,” yield “the natural sense, these things are written allegorically ” (55). Allegory isn’t an apostolic…
Susan Babbitt’s Humanism and Embodiment isn’t a book of theology. Babbitt draws on Marxist and feminist sources as much as on Eastern religion and Christianity. But she does think that religion offers unique resources for philosophy. Secularists, she thinks, are wrong to reject religion, because religion can become an ally…
Everyone knows that John’s writings are vastly important in the New Testament and in Christian theology, but Paul Rainbow claims in his recent Johannine Theology that “a comprehensive survey of the Johannine theology is wanting in current English-speaking New Testament scholarship” (32). In a footnote, he lists a half dozen…
John talks much of “the Jews” as the enemies of Christ, and this has led many to charge him with anti-Semitism. Paul Rainbow finds these charges groundless ( Johannine Theology , 130-6). John is Jewish, and “takes obvious pride in his own people’s religious heritage.” Jewish Scriptures are integral to…
Justin Holcomb, co-founder of Real Escape from the Sex Trade (REST), will speak in Birmingham, Alabama on sex-trafficking on November 19. See details and register at the Trinity House site . Holcomb serves as Canon for Vocations in the Diocese of Central Florida and teaches at Gordon-Conwell and Reformed Theological…
Andrew McGowan’s Ancient Christian Worship is a very fine introduction to the subject. Though it is up-to-date academically, and, as McGowan says, includes the results of some of his own research, it is accessibly written, clearly organized, and highly informative. McGowan traces early Christian worship from its origins in the…
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