Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
References to the Son of Man coming on the clouds occur five times in the Synoptic Gospels. Three times such expressions appear in the parallel accounts of the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:36; Luke 21:27). Then, in parallel accounts of Jesus’ trial before the leaders of Israel, such expressions…
Just what the difference is in the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and the New Testament is a question not so easily answered. The distinction is often said to be that in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit is on the believer, but in the New…
1. Introduction You should think of 1917 at church on Sunday. Why? Let me explain. There's one film every Oscar season which everyone seems to have watched—your parents, your colleagues, even your pastor. This year, it's 1917— Sam Mendes' WW1 epic following two British Tommies on a seemingly impossible quest…
This piece was originally part of the Bowyer response to the Theopolis series surrounding Professor McDermott’s essay, “Rethinking Israel.” For the sake of brevity, it was removed from the initial response, to be published as a standalone piece. As we’ve argued previously , we are strongly supportive of the right…
Richard Bauckham’s groundbreaking work, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony , is profoundly insightful, but the message of the book is hampered by the presupposition of Marcan priority. Ironically the place where this assumption perhaps does its most damage is in Bauckham’s discussion of the apostle Matthew…
The Protestant Reformation was defined by certain clarifying disagreements between the medieval Church and those who came to be known as Protestant Reformers. Chief among these was the nature of justification: whether one was justified by works, or by faith and works, or—as Martin Luther contended—by faith alone. Now over…
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Jesus holds seven stars (Revelation 1:16). Farrer says there can be no doubt what these stars are: They are the seven planets of the ancient solar system, which lent their names to the days of the week ( Revelation of St. John Divine , 68). He elaborate: “Christ embraces [the…
John hears a voice and turns to see it (Revelation 1:10, 12). C.E. Douglas ( The Last Word in Prophecy , 149-51) observes that this picks up on a rich vein of biblical phonology. Ezekiel heard a voice above the firmament, and what he saw was a human figure glowing…
We live in a world of novelty. Newness has never been more new, and, like the mercies of God, the new is new every morning. But a strange thing has happened on the way to a world of the never-new now. Along the way we’ve made the past more accessible…
Fans exert more influence on popular culture than ever before, or so it seems. Katherine Larsen and Lynn Zubernis, authors of Fangasm , aren’t buying it. Drawing on their work Devon Maloney observes that “creating a relationship in which producers give fans what they think they want—has become a massive,…
Christopher Elwood ( The Body Broken , 75) claims that Calvin’s “instrumental” view of sacramental efficacy opens up a space for critical scrutiny: “Rather than being regarded as either sacred or secular, political and social orders, by analogy with the sacramental elements, were likely seen by the attentive reader of…
I sketch some of the contours of sanctuary theology at the Trinity House site.
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