Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
1. Come, Ye Thankful People, Come. This hymn by Henry Alford is found in many hymnals, including Cantus Christi . Yet, the last stanza radically contradicts the theological perspective of the historic faith and of the editors of this hymnal. It is a witness to how we tend to bounce…
This series of post were originally published at the Biblical Horizons blog. The entire paper can be downloaded HERE . 7. The Literary Shape of the Covenant As we have seen, there is a succession of covenants in the Bible, each more glorious than the previous, each absorbing and transfiguring…
This series of post were originally published at the Biblical Horizons blog. The entire paper can be downloaded HERE . 6. Covenant Phases in the Bible Thus far we have spoken of only three phases in the history of the one covenant. We must now divide the third phase into…
This series of post were originally published at the Biblical Horizons blog. The entire paper can be downloaded HERE . 5. Priest, King, and Prophet We can begin with the phrase “prophet, priest, and king.” This is the order normally heard from preachers and theologians. But it is not really…
This is a fine hymn by John Mason Neale, based on an ancient Greek church hymn. The opening question is particularly powerful: “Christian, dost thou see them on the holy ground, how the powers of darkness compass thee around?” Yes, the devil strikes in the very church and her worship…
This syrupy piece of marijuana-haze hymnody is found in the hymnals of churches that have substituted sentiment for orthodoxy and worship. Hence you don’t find it in older Presbyterian hymnals, but in the Trinity Hymnal. Nor do you find it in Episcopal and Lutheran hymnals until very recently in some…
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Though “word and sentence are interdependent,” argues David Braine ( Language and Human Understanding , 2), yet “neither is definable in terms of the other.” This is most often acknowledged from one direction: An infinite number of sentences can be constructed from the finite resources of the lexical stock of…
In a 2005 article in Atike Kunst , Gunnel Ekroth examines vase paintings to explore the role blood played in Greek sacrificial rites. One main aim is to support his thesis that Greek reserved sacrificial blood in order to consume it, and he defense this view by examining when blood…
Leviticus contains only two narratives (chs. 10, 24), and its structure is dictated by speeches from Yahweh to Moses, who delivers them to Israel. Yet, in a rough and broad way, it’s possible to see a narrative shape to the book, particularly if we view it as a continuation of…
In a 2005 Syracuse University dissertation on purity, Yohan Yoo traces some of the changes in purity regulations that took place in his three selected ancient purity systems - Egypt, Israel, and Greece. In the first, he finds what he describes as a “democratization of the mortuary texts” during the…
Israel is prohibited from uncovering nakedness of anyone who is “flesh of your flesh” (Leviticus 18:6). A man and a woman who already have a “flesh” relationship - whether biological or “covenantal” kinship - cannot add another one-flesh sexual relationship. An Israelite can rightly be joined in one flesh with…
Micah ends with promises of deliverance from sin. “I” bear Yahweh’s indignation because of my sin, but He will deliver me (7:9). Yahweh will have compassion and “tread our iniquities under foot” (7:19). It’s a new exodus, as in the days when Yahweh performed signs in Egypt (7:15). Exiles will…
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