Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
For Part 1, click HERE . How did Paul’s earliest commentators view his juxtaposition of music and drunkenness, and did they connect it to the ancient Greek ideas of musical ethos described in Part I? Origen, one of the earliest commentators on Paul, writes about Ephesians 5:18-19: One, however, who…
Perhaps it is because I am a musician that I have always found Ephesians 5:18-19 so arbitrary. But isn’t it a little odd to contrast music and drunkenness? Perhaps it is not obvious that that is what Paul is doing; I know, for myself, that it is remarkably easy to…
In 1 Corinthians 7:12-16 Paul deals with how the Corinthian Christians are supposed to be relating to unbelieving spouses. He essentially tells them, “Look, if your unbelieving spouse is willing to stay with you as a faithful Christian, don’t initiate a divorce. If he/she wants to leave you, let him/her…
For Part 1, click HERE . Those who focus on the supposed “pacifism” of Jesus and condemn the violence of God’s judgments throughout the Old Testament overlook the ministry of sacrificial bloodshed as an alternative to human bloodshed. The sword bearing of the sacrificial system was introduced to avoid the…
How should a Christian respond to the objection that the Bible, like the Koran, is a book of violence and bloodshed? Numerous answers have been offered by well-meaning exegetes, but none of them gets to the heart of the matter: God desires to place a sword in the hands of…
Beginning this summer, Dr. Alastair Roberts will join the Theopolis Institute as an adjunct Senior Fellow, the Institute has announced. Dr. Roberts will be a regular on the Theopolis podcast, teach intensive courses and in the Fellows Program, and help develop new programs and outlets. Roberts earned his PhD from…
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Robert Cover (in an essay contained in On Violence: A Reader )) suggests that the very extremity of martyrdom makes it a “proper starting place for understanding the nature of legal interpretation.” For the martyr, “if there is to be a continuing life, it will not be on the term’s…
Ephraim Radner’s dense studies are always sobering, and his recent A Brutal Unity: The Spiritual Politics of the Christian Church is no exception. In a chapter chillingly titled “Division is Murder,” he exposes the complicity of Christians in political violence. Our ecclesial divisions may not cause violence, but Christian division…
My meditation for Good Friday at the First Things site this morning.
Isaiah 55:7-13 is lovely poetry. It’s also a theologically rich passage. It starts with an exhortation to the wicked to abandon his own ways and thoughts, his conduct, goals, and plans (v. 7). If he does so, he can find pardon. Penitence is the only path to pardon. “Thoughts” and…
Isaiah 55:1 is an invitation to a food market, opened in the restored Zion. Like Lady Wisdom of Proverbs, she offers food and drink. The verse is chiastically organized: A. come to waters and drink B. without silver C. come, buy D. eat C’. come, buy B’. without silver or…
Diseased and wounded Zion (Isaiah 1:5-6) finally the makeover she has wanted (Isaiah 54:11-12). She is a bride, adorned with jewels. She is a city whose foundations, gates, and border fences sparkle. She is dressed as a priest, gem stones on her breastplate. She is adorned like the firmament, a…
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