Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
For Part 1, click HERE . How did Paul’s earliest commentators view his juxtaposition of music and drunkenness, and did they connect it to the ancient Greek ideas of musical ethos described in Part I? Origen, one of the earliest commentators on Paul, writes about Ephesians 5:18-19: One, however, who…
Perhaps it is because I am a musician that I have always found Ephesians 5:18-19 so arbitrary. But isn’t it a little odd to contrast music and drunkenness? Perhaps it is not obvious that that is what Paul is doing; I know, for myself, that it is remarkably easy to…
In 1 Corinthians 7:12-16 Paul deals with how the Corinthian Christians are supposed to be relating to unbelieving spouses. He essentially tells them, “Look, if your unbelieving spouse is willing to stay with you as a faithful Christian, don’t initiate a divorce. If he/she wants to leave you, let him/her…
For Part 1, click HERE . Those who focus on the supposed “pacifism” of Jesus and condemn the violence of God’s judgments throughout the Old Testament overlook the ministry of sacrificial bloodshed as an alternative to human bloodshed. The sword bearing of the sacrificial system was introduced to avoid the…
How should a Christian respond to the objection that the Bible, like the Koran, is a book of violence and bloodshed? Numerous answers have been offered by well-meaning exegetes, but none of them gets to the heart of the matter: God desires to place a sword in the hands of…
Beginning this summer, Dr. Alastair Roberts will join the Theopolis Institute as an adjunct Senior Fellow, the Institute has announced. Dr. Roberts will be a regular on the Theopolis podcast, teach intensive courses and in the Fellows Program, and help develop new programs and outlets. Roberts earned his PhD from…
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When the seven bowl angels appear, the heavenly temple is filled with the smoke of God's glory (Revelation 15:5-8). This links with the consecration of the tabernacle in Exodus 40 and of the temple in 1 Kings 8. In both cases, the glory of the lord fills the house so…
Members of the Corinthian church were filing suits against one another before the Roman courts, and Paul was livid. Saints will judge the world. Saints will judge angels. Since the saints are destined for that level of judicial authority, “are you not competent to constitute the smallest law court?” (1…
During the latter part of the nineteenth century, writes Vanessa Ogle ( The Global Transformation of Time ), “saw dramatically enhanced interactions on a global scale, drawing people and regions into networks of production and exchange, into imperial and colonial careers and livelihoods, while disrupting autonomous, regional economic and political…
The word “bowl” (Greek, phiale ) is used twelve times in Revelation, almost all of them in chapters 15-16. The other main use comes in chapter 5, where the angelic choir is equipped with bowls of incense following the appearance of the Lamb in heaven. In chapter 15, the bowls…
In an essay on “The Obvious” (published in The Dialectics of Liberation ), R. D. Laing reflects on the “very low” visibility of social events: “In social space one's direct immediate capacity to see what is happening does not extend any further than one's own senses extend. Beyond that one…
In his Christians at the Borders , Guatemalan-American theologian M. Daniel Carroll addresses Samuel Huntington's claim that the newest American immigrants are not assimilating to American values and priorities. Carroll agrees that immigrants have a responsibility to assimilate to the host country, and provides a biblical argument in support. He…
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