Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The corona virus hit Western society like a Biblical plague — almost. Biblical plagues were actually much more devastating. Still, as Peter Leithart describes the present situation, it is a judgment from God, because the disease itself together with our political solutions brought about a social situation that fits Deuteronomy’s…
“The achievements of theologians don’t do anything, don’t affect anything, don’t mean anything. What makes anyone think that ‘theology’ is a subject at all?” - Richard Dawkins One cannot be a Christian college president or seminary trustee (your essayist is both) without wondering if Richard Dawkins’s notorious take-down of theology…
Nearly every church that I am aware of has adopted differing practices since the recent virus scare began. Some churches continued to meet during the state lock downs, and other churches left their building empty, meeting online through various video conference technologies. Some churches have gone back to life as…
Fear is an inseparable companion of human life. We are afraid of illness and death, poverty and cataclysms, rejection and betrayal, failure and shame. We are afraid of the unknown, so in a sense we are afraid of the future and life itself. Unless we live in the illusory belief…
In the title above, I put the word “heresies” in quotation marks because I would prefer that the word “heresy” be confined to erroneous beliefs about the Trinity and the Person of Christ, rather than be used broadly to describe any view that might be considered an error. 1 At…
I’ve been trying to work out why I’m feeling existentially disconnected from CoV-19-related fears. I’m taking it seriously, but it’s not registering in any deeply personal way. Partly it’s that my routines are largely undisrupted. But as I reflect on people’s reactions I think there’s more, because a lot of…
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E nforcement of current immigration laws is a political prerequisite for immigration reform, whatever direction that reform is supposed to go. This is one of the points made by Peter Schuck in a dispassionate, informative piece on immigration in The American Interest . He cites the work of David Martin,…
S olomon knows that the temple cannot contain Yahweh. He can't be contained within the limits of earth, or even the “heaven of heavens” (2 Chronicles 6:18): How then can He be confined to a tiny cube called the “holy of holies.” Solomon also knows that the temple doesn't need…
A ncient conceptions of society were tinged by the potential for tragedy, a potential linked to the inescapable necessity of alterity, of encountering an “other.” As Luigino Bruni puts it ( The Wound and the Blessing ), “if happiness requires social relationships—that is, requires friendship and reciprocity—if friendship and reciprocity…
S olomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple begins with a prayer structured as a double chiasm (2 Chronicles 6:14–21). The first runs from verses 14–17: A. Yahweh, God of Israel, you keep covenant, v 14a B. to servants who walk before you, v 14b C. You have kept…
T he Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder is best known for his seminal book on The Politics of Jesus (1972). Yoder’s writings about the Old Testament “prequel” to Jesus are less well known, partly because they are scattered in articles that Yoder never gathered between two covers. In The Politics…
T he ark has been placed in the temple, the Levitical musicians have played, Yahweh's glory has descended to fill the house, and then Solomon start talking. He declares the completion of the building (2 Chronicles 6:1–2), blesses Yahweh for fulfilling His promise (6:3–11), asks Yahweh to hear prayers (6:14–21),…
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