Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
First, I love my Christmas songs. This is how I think of it: the season of Advent gets in the way of singing what I want to sing. How can you not listen to Nat King Cole in December? Or Bing Crosby, Harry Connick Jr., and Amy Grant? Even though…
Introduction Imagine the stereotypical American grandparents. Once you have the outline, start filling in the details. What picture emerges? Maybe something like what Ogden Nash said, “When grandparents enter the door, discipline flies out the window.” Or maybe the oft-repeated assertion that it’s the grandparent’s job description “to spoil the…
Hundreds of generations of ancient Israelites grew up as children of Abraham, inheritors of the covenant—the promises of God. These promises were more than nice bumper stickers or framed photos to cover empty space in their homes–these promises were at the heart of their very identity–individually and collectively. Genesis “I…
Aliens and Sojourners When the question “Is there life on other planets?” is asked, even the best theologians can only reply, “The Bible doesn’t tell us.” Well, in truth, the Bible does tell us, but only if we are paying attention. …and there was not a man to till the…
John runs a theme throughout his gospel that bubbles under the surface—Jesus is searching for, and finding, a wife. John launches into the narrative proper with a statement of where he’s going. “On the third day there was a wedding” (John 2.1) is about as good an example of flash…
I have come to believe that a great many people are almost too weak to repent in any very open way. There must first be some level of healing. In some cases, including biblical ones, there is not even any evidence of faith on the part of the recipients of…
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When the angel blows the first trumpet, one-third of the land and one-third of the trees, along with all the grass, gets burned up by the fire coming from heaven (Revelation 8). It sets a trend. Throughout the trumpet section, things are destroyed by thirds. In part, this this is…
The editors of The Question of Peace in Modern Political Thought argue that peace has received more attention from philosophers than is often admitted, but they don’t think that it’s received nearly enough attention. Their collection aims to address that gap with essays on Luther, Spinoza, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant,…
After the Lamb ascends to heaven, the living creatures and elders suddenly have bowls ( phiale ) of incense (Revelation 5:8). The incense is identified with the “prayers of the saints.” They are like the leaders of the tribes in Numbers 7, each of whom brings, among other things, “one…
Paul gives a brief summary of his advancement in Judaism in Galatians 1:13-14, but the description is surrounded by references to an unveiling of Jesus: A. The gospel came not from man, 11-12a B. but by revelation ( apokalupsis ) of Jesus, 12b B. Former life in Judaism, 13a C.…
Terryl Givens’s forthcoming Wrestling the Angel is the first of a two-volume study of the foundations of Mormon theology and practice. Givens admits that Mormonism, for all its roots in Christian Scriptures, diverges “radically” from traditional Christianity, and he locates the difference in “a distinctive cosmology and metaphysics” which is…
Born into a pious Scottish family living in Canada in 1848, George Romanes might have been destined for ministry in the Church of Scotland. Reading Darwin upended his plans, and his early adulthood was marked by public disputes about science and faith, Romanes taking up the case for Darwin and…
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