Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Understanding Shakespeare’s Biblical references is vital for the interpretation of many, if not all, of Shakespeare’s plays. For Othello , it is especially important, not only because the interpretation of the play is contested among various approaches — feminist, homosexual, post-colonial, Marxist, Freudian, new historical, and others — but also…
Mike Allen of Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, scores some points in his review of The End of Protestantism . He lodges the fair complaint that my rhetoric sometimes outruns my evidence. He argues that more stress on the present reality of the church’s unity deepens the tragedy of division; divisions…
I begin with two observations. First, on any millennial view, the Christian account of history is progressive, moving from the garden to the city. It is eschatological not only in that there is an end, but that the end is a glorified beginning, not merely a return to origins. To…
The church is a new form of polity that erupts into the world as much as the Son of God comes into the world. It’s a real-world political alternative to the polities of the ancient world. It resolves many of the political dilemmas of the ancient world, though not simply…
In my last post , I explained how Baptists really have a “one-ordinance-one sacrament” ecclesiology. I said this: “what Baptists really believe, in modern parlance, is that there is one ordinance (baptism which is a sign or symbol only) and one sacrament (the Lord’s Supper in which feeding upon Jesus…
One of the most extensive and penetrating responses to the Yoder-Hauerwas attack on Constantiniansm is found in Oliver O’Donovan’s Desire of Nations , in a chapter entitled “The Obedience of Rulers.” O’Donovan defines the word “Christendom” as “a historical idea,” specifically “the idea of a professedly Christian secular political order,…
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Solomon?s Kingdom Established, 1 Kings 2:1-46 INTRODUCTION 1 Kings 2 consists of two large scenes. First, David gives his final instructions to Solomon (vv. 1-12); these verses are bracketed by the word ?days?E(vv. 1, 11). Second, Solomon carries out David?s instructions, enabling him to establish his kingdom (vv. 12-46); these…
Wilfred McClay reviews two recent biographies of Nathaniel Hawthorne in the August 23 Weekly Standard , and argues for a rehabilitation of Hawthorne’s reputation. He gives a superb short summary of Hawthorne’s characteristic tone in a brief discussion of the 1837 short story collection, Twice-Told Tales : “One could plausibly…
Paul Rahe has a fascinating article in the Summer 2004 issue of the Wilson Quarterly , in which he discusses the assessments of 18th-century world order that were offered by Voltaire and Montesquieu. Along the way, he suggests a connection between French interest in the English constitution and the development…
1 Kings 1:25 This morning?s sermon text contrasts two rival princes, both vying for the throne of David. Adonijah attempts to lift himself up, and ends up abased; Solomon does nothing, relying on the intercession of his mother, and yet he inherits the kingdom. Part of the contrast is a…
Slavery is back in the local news, and it?s a good time once again to reflect on how we should deal with this subject. First and foremost, we must examine what the Scriptures say about slavery, since the Bible is our ultimate authority of faith and practice. A central theme…
In most Reformation theology, imputation is a distinct act from justification. God Christ’s righteousness to us, and in a distinct act declares that we are righteous because Christ’s righteousness clothes and covers us. Is this what Paul means by LOGIZOMAI (“reckon, impute”)? I don’t mean to resolve that question in…
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