Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Several weeks ago, a picture of a man working at Trader Joe’s went viral. At first glance, it was hard to tell what was worthy of note in the picture—a man simply standing near a cash register. It turns out, the picture went viral not because of what the man…
Among the many allusions in the transfiguration story, one allusion, or rather, one group of allusions, is especially prominent — allusions to Mt. Sinai. The first and least obvious of the allusions to Mt. Sinai is the expression “high mountain” in Matthew and Mark and “the mountain” in Luke. Ancient…
The revelation of Jesus’ glory at the transfiguration is one of the most important stories in the synoptic Gospels. At Jesus’ baptism — the inauguration of New Covenant baptism with the Holy Spirit and the paradigm for Christian baptism — God the Father spoke from heaven: “You are My Son,…
The first section of Proverbs (chapters 1-9) contains two lengthy descriptions of temptations that a young man should resist and avoid (1:10-19 and 7). The two temptations are recruitment into a robber gang and being enticed by an adulterous wife. I've argued before that these are the two perversions of…
Is there a Gospel invitation? To many evangelical Christians, the answer to that question is an unqualified "yes." Some calvinists, reacting against the misleading character of the "altar call," seem less interested in inviting men to anything than they are in sending men away to think about the message they…
Effective pastoral care helps people progress to maturity. Historically, the Christian church worked out the sacramental system to assist people with the various conversions of life. While we Protestants believe in only two sacraments, it is helpful for us to look at the sacramental system, because there is some wisdom…
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Stephen Kern’s The Culture of Time and Space, 1880-1914 (1983/2003) is an enormously rewarding book. A few highlights. In his introduction, Kern carefully examines how technological and cultural developments interacted during his time period. He eschews “technological determinism in cultural history” in favor of a nuanced spectrum of interactions. At…
Adam describes how modern efforts at time-control have undermined time-control: “For clock time to exist and thus to be measurable and controllable there has to be duration, an interval between two points in time. Without duration there is no before and after, no cause and effect, no stretch of time…
Virilio notes that (in Adam’s summary) “through the ages, the wealth and power associated with ownership of land was equally tied to the capacity to traverse it and to the speed at which this could be achieved.” A lord of vast holdings without horses to defend its distant borders won’t…
Paul Virilio observes that time “compression” (a Marxist term, referring to speeding-up of economic and other social processes) has unintended and counter-intentional consequences. Adam summarizes: “while cars, planes and trains had become progressively aster, the time spent in transit had not been compressed at an equal rate. Standstill and traffic…
Barbara Adam ( Time ) remarks, “In medieval Europe the Church as God’s representative on earth was the keeper and guardian of time. Not even the sovereign had jurisdiction over it. The sovereign had the monopoly over weights and measures; the churches were in charge of time in all its…
We can’t not talk about Jesus. He is the Word, the Living Word behind, in with and under, all our words. Whatever we try to articulate, and do articulate, with truth, is about the One in whom all things hold together. Whenever we speak falsely, we are speaking against the…
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