Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
One of the curiosities of the New Testament revelation is its focus on Galilee. The region of Galilee was given to Asher, Zebulun, Naphtali, and Issachar, and the events of Judges 4-8 occurred there, so it had some importance in Israelite history. But when the tribe of Ephraim led the…
Numbers 3:40-51 tells us that the Levites were substituted for the firstborn of Israel. The firstborn belonged to God, as stated in Exodus 13:12-13 and 22:29. It is clear that the first group of firstborn claimed by God were those He saved at the first Passover (Ex. 12). These should…
I have lived and worked in Presbyterian circles since I became convinced of the Reformed faith over twenty years ago. Thus, it is easiest and most appropriate for me to issue criticisms and to call for reformation in the Presbyterian churches. Both Scripture and my own experience, and my observation…
And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory...(John 1:14) Commentaries on John, discussing the Word or Logos in John 1, routinely turn to Greek philosophy and say that John is using a term and at least part of an idea familiar in the ancient…
John Wenham’s Redating Matthew, Mark & Luke: A Fresh Assault on the Synoptic Problem 1 is an impressively detailed treatment of the "synoptic problem." I lack both the patience and the knowledge to evaluate Wenham’s contribution to that vexing question. My purpose instead is to summarize his conclusions concerning the…
Commentators do not agree on the contents of the Book of Seven Seals (Revelation 5:1). Some see it as the New Covenant; others as the whole Word of God; others as the book of life; and others as the record of the Old Creation that is now being brought to…
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Isaiah 53 has often been read as a text dealing mainly with “atonement theory.” That is, it is a text that explains the mechanics of how the atonement dealt with sin. That is certainly part of what we’ll find, but the text itself is really more a prediction of the…
Leonard Vander Zee ( Christ, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper ) shows some chutzpah in addressing the question of Eucharistic sacrifice, and in suggesting that there are senses in which the Eucharist is properly said to be sacrificial. He offers a few quotations to show the Reformation pedigree of this…
A 1982 debate between architects Christopher Alexander and Peter Einsenman focused on contrasting cosmologies expressed by traditional versus modernist architecture. At one point, the exchanged focused specifically on the pitched roof. Alexander, advocating an architecture of comfort, harmony, and feeling, claimed that “the pitched roof contains a very, very primitive…
Following hints from David Aune, Alastair Campbell argues (in an Evangelical Quarterly article) that Revelation 19:11-21 does not describe a last battle but a triumphal parade modeled on a Roman Triumph. He quotes the following description of such an event: “The victorious general whom the senate had granted the right…
William Dumbrell's The End of the Beginning examines the Old Testament backgrounds to the final visions of Revelation, chapters 21-22. He looks at those chapters through various lenses - new Jerusalem, new temple, new covenant, new Israel, new creation. Reviewing Ezekiel's vision of restoration, he points to the obvious, that…
In the ancient world, Aries was, Bruce Malina observes, “the first of all constellations, the first created celestial body marking the inauguration of the cosmos” ( The New Jerusalem in the Revelation of John , 67). He cites Cicero in support: “When the vault of the sky returns to the…
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