Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
For many people the date October 31 is significant not only for being the Eve of All Saints (All Hallows Eve, Halloween) but as the day in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg. These theses were a list of…
It has become routine in October for some Christian schools to send out letters warning parents about the evils of Halloween, and it has become equally routine for me to be asked questions about this matter. "Halloween" is simply a contraction for All Hallows’ Eve. The word "hallow" means "saint,"…
The following is an excerpt from Peter Leithart's forthcoming two-volume commentary on Revelation (T&T Clark). Y ou must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings,” a voice tells John (Rev. 10:11). Then someone gives him a “reed like a rod” and instructs him to measure (11:1).…
Josiah is an ideal Davidic king in many ways. He not only “did right,” but he “walked in the ways of his father David” and “did not turn aside to the right or to the left” (2 Chronicles 34:2). At the age of 16, he began to seek Yahweh, and…
One of the best discussions of Augustine’s views on time comes from Jeremy Begbie’s Theology, Music, and Time (ch. 3). Following Paul Ricoeur, Begbie claims that Augustine’s distentio “is conceived as the three-fold present, and the threefold present as distentio . The distentio consists in the non-coincidence of the mind’s…
This has always been the position of the Christian Church, and from an historical perspective the present situation in evangelicalism is appalling. The early liturgies of the Church, which are still used in Episcopal and Lutheran worship, are laced with psalm phrases. The early hymns, such as the Te Deum…
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James Jordan points out that the two witnesses correspond to two cities and to two forms of judgment (Revelation 11). One weapon of the witnesses is fire, and this corresponds to Sodom, destroyed by fire (vv. 5, 8). Another weapon is turning water to blood and bringing plagues, and this…
Through Jeremiah, Yahweh instructs the Chaldeans to “go through [Judah’s] vine rows and destroy. Take away her tendrils, for they are not Yahweh’s” (Jeremiah 5:10). In his discourse on the vine in John 15, Jesus says something similar: The Father cute off the branches that do not bear fruit and…
Peter Leithart is one of those bright and creative voices that we all ought to be listening to. I find that he seeks to do justice both to the Christian tradition and to helpful moves in contemporary thought. I always learn something when I read his work, and that is…
At least since Kant, debates about knowledge have been framed in terms of objective v. subjective: Do we have actual and certain access to things that are outside our brain (objective), or does our mind determine what we know (subjective)? Is truth absolute and objective, or relative and subjective? Christians…
In various places, James Jordan makes the point that the death penalty depends on a theological view of law and punishment. This is true in the sense that human rulers can kill only if the Lord of life and death has delegated His authority. Christians who defend the death penalty…
Keeping people wandering in extended adolescence is good for business, says Thomas Bergler in The Juvenilization of American Christianity (6-7): “People who know who they are, who think carefully about purchases, and who exercise self-control are harder to persuade to buy products they don’t really need. In contrast, impulsive people…
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