Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Although the events are, of course, not perfectly parallel, Luke in his gospel intends us to connect Jesus’ birth from the womb and His re-birth from the tomb. Luke 1:27 introduces us to Joseph and in verse 30 we learn that his betrothed wife was named Mary. An angel appeared…
The apostle Matthew is also known as Levi son of Alphaeus. While not much is said about this man, the few things that are told us are significant. Matthew in Greek is Matthaios and comes from the Hebrew name Mattithiah, or Mattith-Yah, "Gift of Yah(weh)." Matthew’s other name is Levi,…
Theologians often speak of "special" and "general" revelation, or of "natural" and "supernatural" revelation, or of "word" and "deed" revelation. While there are many worthwhile insights in these discussions, particularly in the discussions in Cornelius Van Til’s Introduction to Systematic Theology , I have not found any that satisfied my…
Ezekiel’s 430 Years In Ezekiel 4, the prophet is told to begin his ministry by setting up a model of Jerusalem and lying on his side and prophesying against it. He is to do this for 430 days, a day for a year. 390 days are against "Israel," and 40…
The Feast of Ingathering in the seventh month of the Sinaitic calendar is also called the Feast of Sukkoth, of Booths, also called Feast of Tabernacles. I have usually called it by that last phrase, and it is the most common today; but there is a problem: A tabernacle is…
The End of Jehoiakim’s Reign We have seen that Jehoiakim rejected Jeremiah’s prophetic warnings at the beginning of his reign. Let us now make a year-by-year survey of his reign down to its end. In the spring of 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptians at Carchemish. In the summer, he…
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Barth insists, rightly, that the incarnation doesn’t express any “need” or lack on God’s part, but is rather His free gracious response to the “radical neediness of the world.” Taking on that neediness also means taking up our cause. He comes to maintain and carry through humanity’s cause to victory.…
Protestants often claim that our sinfulness is manifest in our efforts to earn God’s favor by our works. That is true, but it doesn’t quite get at the most grievous root of sin. Barth is more penetrating in saying that our sinfulness is manifest in our efforts to usurp God’s…
Charles Morris (in The Trillion Dollar Meltdown ) says that one of the dangerous trends emerging in the 80s and 90s, and lurking behind the current financial crisis, is the “increased dominance of investment decisions by mathematical constructs.” He admits that “Large securities portfolios usually do behave more or less…
Jesus spits on the ground, makes clay of the spittle, and “applies” the clay to the eyes of a blind man (John 9; NASB). The verb behind “apply” is epichrio . Its only other usage in the NT is five verses later, where the NASB translates the very same form…
John is aware of linguistic diversity, translating unusual Hebrew terms into Greek (e.g., “Messiah” into “Christ,” 1:42). This is perhaps for the convenience of Greek readers, but there is likely also a theological reason: John proclaims the incarnate Word, and describes the work and words of that Word with words…
John tells us that the inscription “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews” was placed above his head on the cross in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek (19:19-20). But this is just the culmination of a text that, though written in Greek, contains a number of cross-linguistic terms. Twice in…
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