Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
When Samuel saw Saul, Yahweh answered him, "Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you! This one will restrain My people" (1 Samuel 9:17) Many English versions of 1 Samuel 9:17 read, "This one will rule over My people," but that is a mistranslation. The Hebrew verb is `atsar…
We have arrived at the tentative date of A.M. 3474 for the decree of Cyrus, and we have determined to operate as if the 70 weeks of Daniel 9 are literal years. We also decided that Messiah the Prince arrives at the beginning of the 70th week, after the 69…
The book of Proverbs appears as a largely random collection of aphorisms drawn from experience saturated in law. Despite its random arrangement, however, the book does have an over-arching structure that reinforces its main themes. One way to gather clues regarding the structure of a biblical book (or any book)…
I recently had the privilege and pleasure of reading the first draught of Gary North’s Economic Commentary on Leviticus , which will be out some time next year. Gary’s comments on Leviticus 27 were stimulating, and caused me to take another look at the passage. The results, which I sent…
As we have seen in this series, each time there is a new covenant, there is a break in the year-by-year chronology. At the same time, each time the break is crossed by information provided in the text. Thus, the year-by-year chronology breaks down at the birth of Abraham, but…
The Openness of Literature Let’s discuss literature for a moment. There are two ways a story or novel can close. The first is called poetic justice. When a story ends with poetic justice, the bad guys are all punished and the good guys are all rewarded. This kind of story…
Showing page 287 of 309
Showing page 32 of 43
Rex Koivisto argues ( One Lord, One Faith , 155-6) that all churches have traditions, including supposedly Bible-only Evangelicals. All traditions can harden into harmful habits, but Koivisto thinks that this danger is particularly threatening among Evangelicals who claim to be free of tradition. “The danger . . . comes…
The debate over the marriage pledge has died down, but it shouldn't be dismissed. It still has a useful function, a clarifying function. Those who signed the marriage pledge were refusing to sign state marriage licenses. The point behind the pledge was to distinguish between what the law now calls…
Revelation is addressed to the church in a wilderness, a generation-long period between Jesus' exaltation and the fall of Jerusalem. Like Israel in the wilderness, the church needs to find sources of fresh, life-giving water. Fresh water is promised (7:17) and eventually given (21:5-6; 22:1, 17), but in between unpolluted…
Steve Pincus argues that 1688 marked the “first modern revolution. The Glorious Revolution couldn't have taken the form it did without the “series of ideological debates that informed and transformed conceptions of state, religion, and society” in the middle of the century (8). From these debates emerged a vision for…
Paul Griffiths ( Decreation ) argues that “quietism” about political interest and judgment is a sign here and now of the future quietus of heaven. “Quietism” doesn't mean a retreat from advocacy or passion. Citing Pascal, Griffiths lays out a version of political advocacy that renounces political calculations of a…
Elizabethan Puritans were regularly denounced as “Judaizers” by others in the English church. After all, they were interested in Hebrew, kept the Sabbath, exhibited what others regarded as a legalistic strain in their piety. During the Laudian ceremony controversy of the 1630s, however, Puritans turned the tables and accused the…
Showing page 441 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
