Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
My good friend, Jason Ewert, recently posted a review of Pastor Douglas Wilson’s book, Against the Church . Jason correctly notes that Pastor Wilson’s main pastoral motivation in writing this book is to combat dead orthodoxy. Dead orthodoxy is a real problem in Reformed churches that celebrate the primacy of…
At the church I pastor, we have four servers who distribute the communion elements to the congregation, and I distribute the elements to those in the foyer and nursery. The servers and I do not partake of the bread and wine until the congregation is served first. As this has…
We at Trinity House believe that the church ought to raise and train her future pastors. Part of that training may be carried out by specialized institutions like Trinity House, but the church and her leaders are ultimately responsible for that training. To encourage churches to assume that responsibility, Trinity…
Sandra Jacobs's The Body as Property examines the role of physical disfigurement in the Hebrew Bible, with focus on the Torah, and more specifically on the (fictitious) Priestly document, P. After an introduction laying out a rationale for the comparative method that guides her research, she explores circumcision, the use…
Yahweh saves. That’s what Isaiah’s name means, and that’s what Isaiah’s prophecy is about. Yah saves Judah when Aram and Israel pressure her. He saves Jerusalem from the Assyrian siege. He brings Judah back from the grave of Babylonian exile. But this triumphant message of Isaiah fizzles. The last few…
Are apostasy and assurance mutually exclusive? Some seem to think so. But let’s consider this a bit: No Reformed man would ever say that a man who is “saved” today will be safe forever no matter what . Rather we say, “your sins are forgiven, now, walk faithfully, glorify the…
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Leo the Great, Homily for the Nativity of our Lord . Our Saviour, dearly-beloved, was born today: let us be glad. For there is no proper place for sadness, when we keep the birthday of the Life, which destroys the fear of mortality and brings to us the joy of…
Micah 3: Hear now, O heads of Jacob, and you rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know justice? You who hate good and love evil; who strip the skin from My people, and the flesh from their bones; who also eat the flesh of…
Christmas is the beginning of the gospel story. Pentecost is its end. The Spirit encloses the whole process, since He is both the agent of the incarnation and the Pentecostal gift of Jesus to His Bride. Salvation isn’t finished at Christmas, when God dwells with us in the man Jesus.…
Exodus 30:22-33 is a recipe. It prescribes the ingredients for the holy oil to anoint both the furnishings of the tabernacle and the priests. The text subdivides into three sections, each of which includes a statement about holiness: A. Recipe for anointing oil; it is holy, 30:23-25 B. Anointed things;…
What is a temple? Etymologically, the word is linked with measurement, a member of a family that includes temperature, temperament, tempo. A templum is a measured area. As David Steindl-Rast puts it ( Gratefulness ), originally the "measured area was not even on the ground but in the sky." Over…
Exodus 30:18-21 is the third of Yahweh’s seven speeches prescribing the form and furnishings of the tabernacle. It describes the laver placed in the court of the tabernacle, and corresponds neatly to the third day of the creation week, when the Lord separated the waters of the earth to allow…
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