Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
I mentioned last month ( BH 82) in my essay "Like a Dove" that Genesis 8 is a recapitulation of Genesis 1. Let me explicate that assertion here. Of course, the world after the Flood is a new creation, so we may expect a recapitulation of the first creation. It…
The book of Esther is one of the most neglected of the books of the Bible. To be sure, sermons are preached on it, and commentaries have occasionally been written on it, but almost without exception Esther has been interpreted in isolation from the rest of Biblical history, chronology, and…
Dear Mr. ______, . . . Here is how I look at the geocentricity question. Since I don’t recall what I wrote you before, I may be repeating some things. 1. The Bible does not teach it. Biblical passages used to support the idea are being misinterpreted. My original paper…
Answer 4 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is often taken as a magnificent answer to the question, "What is God?" It reads: "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth." Presbyterians are fond of praising this statement, preaching on it,…
The gospels tell us that at Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him "in bodily form like a dove" (Luke 3:22 & parallels). Biblically sensitive commentators have associated this event with three Old Testament parallels: (1) the hovering of the Spirit over the creation in Genesis 1:2; (2) the…
This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. (John 8:6) The story of the woman taken in adultery (John 7:53-8:11) has been part of the canonical Christian Bible from its earliest…
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In a 2001 Modern Theology article, Matthew Boulton points to the theme of gratitude in Barth’s theology. Gratitude is for Barth the “one but necessary thing which is proper to and is required of him with whom God has graciously entered into covenant.” It is the “genuine being of man,”…
2 Kings 15:19-20: Pul, king of Assyria, came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver so that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his rule. Then Menahem exacted the money from Israel, even from all the mighty men of wealth,…
Romans 6: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? . . . our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves…
What is the cross? For Matthew, the cross is the climax of the history of Israel as that history is relived by Jesus. Matthew presents Jesus as the teacher of Israel, and accordingly his gospel is organized around five large sections of teaching: the sermon on the mountain, Jesus’ instructions…
Thanks to David Mills of Touchstone for passing this along, a news release from Westminster/John Knox: Taking on the most divisive issue in the church today the former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Jack Rogers, argues unequivocally for the ordination and marriage of people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual,…
Thomas, that bogeyman of open theists, he of the absolute, changeless, impassible, atemporal, impersonal deity - that Thomas says (a point picked up by Edwards) “it pertains to the idea of goodness to communicate itself to others.” Hence, if God is good He is necessarily self-giving; He is not the…
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