Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
We lost Crimea. That is very clear. Putin proved he was not lying when he said he would place women and children ahead of his soldiers to storm Ukrainian military bases. Russian soldiers did exactly that with women (some who volunteered and some who were forced). Russia now occupies all…
Sound is an indicator of life and energy. “Sound signals the present use of power, since sound must be in active production to exist at all.” Things don’t have to be alive to make themselves visible, and “a primitive hunter can see, feel, smell, and taste an elephant when the…
In the most famous section of his best-known novel, Dostoevsky’s Ivan Karamazov brings forward his case against God. He opens with a horrific litany of outrages against children. Turkish soldiers make a baby laugh and then shoot a pistol into his face. A little girl is beaten, thrashed, kicked by…
At the heart of Esther Lightcap Meek's splendid Little Manual for Knowing is a concept she picked up from Michael Polanyi, "subsidiary-focal integration." The concept begins from the insight that all our knowing, all our experience, is double. We focus on something, but we are capable of "indwelling" that focal…
Jesus promises the overcomers of Pergamum "hidden manna" and a "white stone." The hidden manna is often linked with the manna stashed away in the ark of the covenant. The white stone has proved more elusive. Exodus tells us that manna was white (Exodus 16:31) and like bdellium (Numbers 11:7),…
Leviticus 23 begins with a reference to “Yahweh’s appointed times” ( mo’ade-YHWH ). Mo’ed is the common term for the feasts of Israel. A few dimensions to this term. First, it means “appointed time” or “designated time.” It is a time set by Yahweh. Yahweh has claimed certain times as…
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In another talk at the Augustine seminar, a Princeton grad student provocatively claims that Augustine never used the “visible-invisible church” distinction. Admittedly, Augustine has some elements of that distinction, and he was read by the Reformers as supporting the Protestant view. But Augustine never uses the terminology (so far as…
In another talk at the Augustine seminar, a Princeton grad student provocatively claims that Augustine never used the “visible-invisible church” distinction. Admittedly, Augustine has some elements of that distinction, and he was read by the Reformers as supporting the Protestant view. But Augustine never uses the terminology (so far as…
Jamie Smith of Calvin College gave an excellent talk on contemporary readings of Augustine, focusing on the Augustine of Derrida, Caputo, and Ward. According to Smith, Derrida and Caputo have some “formal” or “structural” affinities with Augustine (eg, love is the driving force of religion), but lack any criteria for…
I keep seeing Cornel West at AAR seminars. I recognize him from The Matrix Reloaded . I keep wanting to ask him what Keanu is REALLY like, but haven’t mustered the courage.
Ross Blackburn, a grad student at St Andrews University, presented a good paper on the tabernacle in the context of Exodus. He sees the theological unity of Exodus contained in YHWH’s insistence on pursuing and defending His own honor not only to Israel but before the nations. The plagues are…
Stanley Grentz presented a paper on the imago Dei as a Christological title, and along the way offered some observations on the relation of anthropology and Christology. One of the most revealing things he said was that when imago Dei is confined to anthropology (as it often is in evangelical…
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