Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Imagine driving up to Canada and stopping at a restaurant to get a bite to eat. While you’re sitting at the table, an enthusiastic young man comes over to you and says in an excited voice, "Are you an American?" You reply, "Yes, I am." "Wonderful! I have so little…
1 O Lord Almighty, God of our fathers, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and of their righteous posterity; 2 You who have made heaven and earth with all their order; 3 who have shackled the sea by Your word ofcommand, who have confined the deep and sealed it with…
Part 1: 1When King Astyages was laid with his fathers, Cyrus the Persian received his kingdom. 2 And Daniel was a companion of the king, and was the most honored of his friends. 3Now the Babylonians had an idol called Bel, and every day they spent on it twelve bushels…
This debate has been going on for some time. But with few exceptions, almost all explanations of Presbyterian church polity claim that a “church” (meaning a single local congregation) must be ruled by “a plurality of elders” of whom one may happen to teach and work full-time doing so. This…
I hope that those who are advocating reading more of the ancient, "classical" literature of the ancient, "classical" world, are also promoting the Apocrypha. I’m afraid that many Christians don’t realize what great literature much of the Apocrypha is. It is not, of course, inspired by God, and perhaps because…
PRESBYTERIANISM is a term referring to a system of government in the Church. It is commonly contrasted with Congregationalism and Episcopalianism. Presbyter is a Greek word that is translated as “elder” in our English New Testaments. Thus, Presbyterianism is commonly defined as “rule by elders.” This is a misleading definition.…
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Throughout the Pentateuch and into Joshua, the land of promise is a land “flowing with milk and honey.” After that, the phrase virtually disappears. It is used in the prophets to describe the land given to Israel after the exodus (Jeremiah 11:5; 32:22; Ezekiel 20:6, 15; the partial exception is…
Gregory Beale writes ( We Become What We Worship ) that by the first century, Judaism had turned its own tradition into an idol. Citing Paul’s claim that demons are behind the idols, he asks whether Israel too was incited to worship of tradition by demons, and rightly answers Yes:…
Psalm 115:4-8 is as ironic a blason as Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130. Like many of the descriptions in the Song of Songs, the Psalmist begins from the head and moves to the feet, but instead of celebrating the beauty of the idols of gold and silver he focuses on their incapacity…
Jesus never gives a straight answer. Tell us, his enemies demand, Are you the Christ? Frequently, He refuses to answer, and when He gives an answer, He says things like “You have said” and “You say that I am.” Maddening. Jesus could have pre-emptively silenced a century and more of…
INTRODUCTION Jesus’ long day of battle in the temple began with three parables (Matthew 21:23-22:14 ) that condemned Israel ’s leaders. One by one, these leaders – Herodians, Sadducees, Pharisees ( 23:15 -40) – approach Jesus to trap Him, and one by one they are put beneath the feet of…
Christensen quotes this stunning paragraph from Phillips, where a character muses on the dice-roll of artistic success: “Two months ago, she was raw and unblended; tonight she was reasonably effective; someday very soon she would be in danger of marbling over into a slick cast impression of herself. The target…
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