Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Mystical theologians are often unguarded, extreme, un-nuanced, pressing to the edges of heresy, sometimes beyond. Still, the mystics are worthy of study. Why? Many reasons. Unlike some late medieval and post-Reformation dogmaticians, mystical theologians are often instinctively and richly Trinitarian. Historical-critical approaches to Scripture left mystical theologians virtually untouched; mystics…
Portia of Belmont is a “lady richly left,” as Bassanio says of her in the first Act of The Merchant of Venice . Plus, she’s beautiful and wise. Suitors clamber to Belmont in hope. Her father knew it would be so, and in his will set up a fairy-tale test…
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In the nature of the case, “the” Christian meditation on Deuteronomy 14:1-21 cannot be written. Meditation offers too many possibilities, opens too many doors. There is not one and only one correct set of associations for a Christian to consider when thinking of Deuteronomy 14:1-21. We could, for example, consider…
Having retold the story of the cumulative sin of Israel leading to the great atonement on the cross, Paul then reemphasizes that, just as both Jew and Gentiles were locked into sin and judgment, now they are both justified by faith: Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded.…
Deuteronomy 14 is full of allusions to events of Israel’s history and other portions of Scripture. What would an Israelite learn by mediation on these allusions? The answer, I believe, is at least fourfold. Faith, Worship, War For the ancient Israelite first hearing Moses’ sermon, or perhaps hearing it read…
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Justyn Terry argues that Kant’s critique of substitutionary atonement is misleading because he assumes that there are three parties to the transaction involved in the atonement - God, sinful humans, and an innocent victim. There are only two, since the innocent victim is God human flesh. The transaction looks different…
One of the most “apocalyptic” texts in the Bible is in Ecclesiastes 12. Solomon encourages his reader to remember the Creator before the world ends - before the sun, moon, and stars go dark; before the clouds return; before all civic activity grinds to a halt. Most commentators, though, recognize…
It’s common to divide atonement theories into subjective and objective theories, and to classify Calvin’s atonement theology as a slight variant from Anselm’s objective theory. Stephen Edmondson thinks otherwise ( Calvin’s Christology , 110-1). He doesn’t question that Calvin stresses the objective character of the passion: “In his expiatory sacrifice,…
In the darkness, give us light. In danger, cover us with Your mighty power. In want, provide for us. From idols of power, good Lord, deliver us. From those who enact injustice by decree, good Lord, deliver us. From cruelty, slavery, and the shedding of innocent blood, good Lord, deliver…
In a 1974 radio address, Fulton Sheen raised the question of how “we in America ever get into this idea that freedom means having no boundaries and no limits?” His answer isn’t about the student movements or anything about the Sixties. It’s about Hiroshima: “I think it began on the…
While Joab and others lead the army of Judah against Absalom, David waits for news at the gate of Mahanaim (2 Samuel 18). It puts him in the same position as Eli the priest early in 1 Samuel, who also waited at a gate for news of a battle (1…
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