Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Hearing, Seeing, and History God is Word, not picture. He speaks, but He is not visible in Himself. Thus, God initiates history through language. He speaks the world into existence, and speaks to us to bring us out of formlessness and emptiness into the fullness of being His Bride. Similarly,…
The consensus of modern critical scholarship is that the book assigned to Isaiah was in fact composed by several different hands. "Deutero-Isaiah" supposedly begins with Isaiah 40:1. There are many good reasons for rejecting this conclusion. Among these, the narrative pattern of chapters 36-39 is a neglected piece of evidence.…
Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy has pointed out throughout his many fascinating and occasionally quixotic writings and lectures that human life exists in four directions. These four directions are inward, outward, backward, and forward. In this article I want to explore these as they relate to the work of the Church. Each of…
14. Joseph and Judah Genesis 38 tells us about Judah’s sons and grandsons, and if we try to get these events into the time before the descent of the Hebrews into Goshen, it is very difficult to do so. But this passage is almost certainly dischronologized. Thematically Genesis 38 is…
From time to time I am asked what is good SF and fantasy that teenagers in Christian and home schools might enjoy. The following brief discussion is my answer that question. I’ve tried to point out authors and stories that are not widely known, and therefore have set aside G.…
"And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awaken, some to life everlasting and others to disgrace, to contempt everlasting." This verse is often cited as proof that there was a belief in the resurrection of the body in the Old Testament times. In fact,…
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Robert Cover (in an essay contained in On Violence: A Reader )) suggests that the very extremity of martyrdom makes it a “proper starting place for understanding the nature of legal interpretation.” For the martyr, “if there is to be a continuing life, it will not be on the term’s…
Ephraim Radner’s dense studies are always sobering, and his recent A Brutal Unity: The Spiritual Politics of the Christian Church is no exception. In a chapter chillingly titled “Division is Murder,” he exposes the complicity of Christians in political violence. Our ecclesial divisions may not cause violence, but Christian division…
My meditation for Good Friday at the First Things site this morning.
Isaiah 55:7-13 is lovely poetry. It’s also a theologically rich passage. It starts with an exhortation to the wicked to abandon his own ways and thoughts, his conduct, goals, and plans (v. 7). If he does so, he can find pardon. Penitence is the only path to pardon. “Thoughts” and…
Isaiah 55:1 is an invitation to a food market, opened in the restored Zion. Like Lady Wisdom of Proverbs, she offers food and drink. The verse is chiastically organized: A. come to waters and drink B. without silver C. come, buy D. eat C’. come, buy B’. without silver or…
Diseased and wounded Zion (Isaiah 1:5-6) finally the makeover she has wanted (Isaiah 54:11-12). She is a bride, adorned with jewels. She is a city whose foundations, gates, and border fences sparkle. She is dressed as a priest, gem stones on her breastplate. She is adorned like the firmament, a…
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