Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
1 Kings 17, which abruptly introduces Elijah into the history of the northern kingdom, is a carefully constructed literary unit. In its basic structure, it follows a clear exodus-return pattern. Like Jacob and his sons, Elijah was driven out of the land by a famine (vv. 1-4). In exile, Elijah…
Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and they were scoffing at Him. And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is…
In the year 3119, Ahaziah of Judah and Jehoram of Israel were both slain by Jehu as he carried out his God-appointed task of eliminating the seed and house of Ahab (2 Kings 9:13-33). Since the kings of Israel are usually counted as beginning their reign in the same year…
One of the most important developments in Biblical studies in recent years has been a movement of scholars devoted to studying the literary techniques of the Biblical writers. Tremper Longman, III of Westminster Theological Seminary has treated this movement from a Reformed perspective in his Literary Approaches to Biblical Interpretation…
And because [Paul] was of the same trade, he stayed with [Aquila and Priscilla] and they were working; for by trade they were tentmakers (Acts 18:3). The fact that Paul was by trade a tentmaker has usually been taken as the springboard for a discussion of whether pastors should have…
I pointed out in Chronologies and Kings Part 9 that the years of Judah’s kings are given in chronological fashion. "When we read of a Judahite king’s reign as lasting 4 years, it means that 4 years of the chronology have been given to him, and there is no chronological…
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Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice is organized around caskets, bonds, and rings. Of these, the ring plot is the most baffling. After Portia (disguised as a lawyer) saves Antonio’s bacon, she demands that Bassanio hand over a ring as a way of showing his gratitude for her/his intervention. Bassanio got the…
A history of gratitude remains to be written. That it would be a worthwhile project, providing an important angle of vision into important developments in Western civilization, can be illustrated by a contrast of Oedipus and King Lear. As Catherine Dunn explains in her 1946 dissertation on ingratitude in Renaissance…
INTRODUCTION What are we up to in Moscow? The simple answer is that we are embarked on an experiment in Christian culture. Ephesians teaches us how we are to do this. THE TEXT “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in…
Dr. Sean M. Quinlan, an Asst. Prof. of History at the University of Idaho, has written an open letter to U of I President Timothy White in which he renews various charges lodged against Douglas Wilson, Steve Wilkins, George Grant, and me a few years back. It makes the insightful…
Much of the following is inspired by David Hart’s Beauty of the Infinite . Deuteronomy 14:23, 26: “And you shall eat in the presence of Yahweh your God at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the…
To many Christians, Reformed folk seem more than a little uptight about worship. Calvin left Geneva when the city council attempted to force him to adopt liturgical forms from the city of Bern, even though Calvin admitted he had little quarrel with the Bernese liturgy itself. Puritans made themselves odious…
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