Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
John 18, 19: Latter Prophets and the Writings John 18 and 19 record the arrest, trial, torture, and death of Jesus as laid out in detail in Isaiah 53. After the Roman soldier pierces Jesus’ side, John quotes Zechariah: “They shall look at him whom they pierced” (Zech 12:10). In…
John 12.12 – John 17: Latter Prophets In the Hebrew Scriptures, Kings is followed by the Latter Prophets. John 12:15 quotes Zechariah 9:9 as having prophesied Jesus’ triumphal entry: “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” [1] N.T. Wright…
John 6.16-70: Joshua The book of Joshua documents the nation of Israel entering the Promised Land. Consider the order of events: (1) Israel is still receiving the daily miracle of manna; (2) Israel miraculously crosses the Jordan on dry foot; (3) The day after Passover , Israel eats produce of…
Since my educational and professional training have revolved around story and narrative structure, I approach John’s Gospel from a literary and narrative perspective. In doing so, I have noticed structural story patterns and followed them where they seem to lead: the Gospel of John parallels the ordering of the books…
The Mt. Sinai Hospital was neolithic on the black hill of Hollow, New Hampshire. Winter dampened the trees and the wind bit at the sparse branches, the sidewalks and stairs were perilous with soggy leaves, and the dim yellow light cast a pallor upon the milky stone building. Ambling inside…
The Revelation can only be understood in the light of Old Testament symbols and sequences. The same is true of the epistle of Jude, which serves as a blistering hors d’oeuvre to John’s fiery feast. Possibly written by the apostle Judas Thaddaeus (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13; John 14:22), the epistle…
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A “mighty angel” descends from heaven holding an open book (Revelation 10:1). I agree with Richard Bauckham’s argument ( Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation ) that this is the same as the book opened by the Lamb. When the book first appears, it is on the…
Peter Leithart and James Jordan are among America’s most penetrating Christian preachers and teachers, at once rigorously biblical and richly catholic. Their ambitious vision of the Lordship of Christ gives a vital role to the liturgical worship, helping us to see that the church is the New Israel, a nation…
Ancient temples were houses for the gods, represented by images. That is what Isaiah is talking about when he describes idolaters carrying their gold images, setting them in place, standing them up, and bowing to them (46:5-7). Yahweh too brings something to His House. Isaiah 46:13 pictures Yahweh as a…
In Isaiah 46:11, Yahweh announces that He is bringing a bird of prey from the east to do all his counsel and pleasure. It is a “man,” a reference back to Cyrus, the Shepherd who does all Yahweh’s pleasure (44:28). This is proof of the kind of God Yahweh is,…
Isaiah describes the Babylonian planet gods Bel (Jupiter) and Nebo (Nabu, Mercury) at the beginning of chapter 46. They are weary, bowed and stooped in defeat and fatigue. Their images are being carried on carts because they are incapable of bearing them themselves. The could not deliver ( malat )…
In her TNR review of Andrew Frisardi’s translation of Dante’s Vita Nova , Helen Vendler observes that Dante’s autobiographical cycle of prose and poems was not published until 1576, “almost three hundred years after its composition.” How was the Comedy understood in its absence? Beatrice appears in the Comedy of…
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