Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
What About Catholics? (continued) Usually, such people are not seeking graven images, but rather their idolatry is of a broader character. They are seeking a home on earth. Scott Hahn’s book is called Rome Sweet Home . This is the essential sin, for there is no home on earth. The…
Reading the earliest Christian apologists is like watching a movie in which the hero has the means to demolish his opponents in his grasp but never realizes it. The apologists come across as men not altogether aware of the radical character of the gospel they defend. In response to charges…
Then [Elisha] went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, ne`arim came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!" When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in…
Further Numerical Items of Interest Umberto Cassuto points out some other numerical factors in Genesis 5. 1 For one thing, he observes that every number in Genesis 5 is a multiple of 5, sometimes with the addition of 7. We have, in essence, made this point already. He also points…
Prostration God has designed the human body in a marvelous way, and Biblical religion is very physical. We believe in the resurrection of the body, against all pagan ideas of the immortality of the soul. We bury our bodies, not burning them. Human beings in their totality, including our bodies,…
Since Revelation is laid out in serieses of sevens, it is worth investigating to see if there is a series of seven after the seven libation-bowls of chapter 16. I believe there is, and it is the burden of this essay to expose it. The series of sevens, or heptamerous…
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Agricultural cycles symbolize periods of time. Human projects begin with a time of sowing and planting; then a time of watering and caring and weeding and growth; and finally a time of harvest. A couple marries, they have children who grow to adulthood, in the end they reap a harvest…
William Swatos observes that “The Church of England at its inception and in the Elizabethan period — perhaps its finest hour — was ‘pure' religion as Durkheim would define it: Society writ large” (217). The Anglican church was England at prayer. Given the symbiosis of church and crown, it's not…
William Swatos sees the decline of denominations as “a significant shift in Western civilization and its culture,” tied to the changing landscape of global political and economic life (220). To grasp what is happening to denominations, Swatos directs attention to the global political and economic circumstances of their formation. Post-Reformation…
Revelation describes three scenes of singing. When the Lamb first appears in heaven, the elders and creatures and angels break out into a “new song” (Revelation 5:9). That same “new song” is heard by the 144,000, who are assembled with the Lamb on Mount Zion (14:1), and the 144,000 begin…
T he angelic announcements of Revelation 14:6–11 are an encouragement to the saints to remain steadfast. “ Here is the perseverance of the saints,” John writes (v. 12). Then he adds the defining qualities of the saints: “those who guard the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus (…
In a 1979 article in the Journal of Ecumenical Studies , Russell Richey highlighted what he considered an overlooked source for the denominational system of American Protestantism. That organization of religious groups is typically seen as the product of theories of toleration. Richey argues that “the Puritans and Evangelicals who…
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