Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Misunderstanding “Galatianism” has caused several problems in the Reformed church. Because circumcision is at issue in the Galatian epistle, some have fallen into thinking that ritual per se, rather than anything uniquely Mosaic or Jewish, is the object of Paul’s critique. Likewise, his polemic against “works of the law” is…
Many texts in the NT become more perspicuous if we keep in mind the possibility — and indeed ubiquity — of Gentile God-fearers in the Old Covenant. After the special covenant with Israel is set up, Gentiles are not altogether excluded from the hope of salvation. Israel’s special status in…
I was once trying to get a sermon out of Ephesians 1.12-14 and it seemed obvious that I should look for two parallel statements both ending with the phrase, “to the praise of his glory.” Paul here begins talking about two groups of people (“you” and “we”), and he later…
WHY A DENOMINATION WITH SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN ROOTS SHOULD CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE “NEW PERSPECTIVE ON PAUL” In my denomination, the PCA, we are continually haunted by the sins of our racist Southern past. It has become an annual rite at General Assembly for the issue to be addressed one way or…
Recent debates over whether or not, “justification is central” to Paul’s theology have reminded me of a sermon I once heard by a Presbyterian seminary student. This African American student challenged his audience on the sin of racism and the ways it might manifest itself among us. Like any good…
In Charles Hodge’s 1853 article, “Idea of the Church,” his stated aim is to analyze the idea of the Church proposed in the Apostles’ Creed, in which, “the Church is declared to be “the Communion of the Saints.” He writes: The conception of the Church as the communion of saints…
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P eter Suderman doesn't much like the Ben Hur remake , which he describes as purposeless, a lesser film in every way than its 1959 model. According to Suderman, “The new version bungles the story’s religious aspects. . . . The 1880 Lew Wallace novel was subtitled A Tale of…
D avid Goldman thinks Trump has a point when he accuses Bush, Clinton, and Obama of creating ISIS. Bush ended a millennium of Sunni rule in Iraq when he appointed “Nouri al-Maliki to head Iraq’s first Shia-dominated government.” The result, Goldman argues, was predictable: “the Sunnis—disarmed and marginalized by the…
C hris Deliso reports in the current issue of The National Interest on the “ global network of aristocrats, oligarchs, NGOs and leaders comprising a shadow network of influencers with access to senior religious and political leaders. This network function is becoming increasingly significant now that symbolic religious events are…
O n his web site , CJ Labuschagne analyzes the five books of the Psalter and each of the first 41 Psalms (Book 1). His analyses require a knowledge of Hebrew and get complicated and technical. The payoff is worth the effort. Where else can you find anything like the…
I n a 2008 essay in The Princeton Seminary Bulletin (since reprinted elsewhere), Oliver O’Donovan observes that understanding “difference as plurality” reflects an anxiety about difference. Not all difference creates anxiety, but only those differences of “practical principle” that form subcultures that “act on contrary assumptions and pursue divergent courses…
D avid's first effort to bring the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem was a failure. The set-up was wrong from the beginning; instead of appointing Levites to transport the ark on their shoulders, David placed the ark on a cart pulled by oxen. When the ark became unsteady, Uzza…
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