Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
I mentioned last month ( BH 82) in my essay "Like a Dove" that Genesis 8 is a recapitulation of Genesis 1. Let me explicate that assertion here. Of course, the world after the Flood is a new creation, so we may expect a recapitulation of the first creation. It…
The book of Esther is one of the most neglected of the books of the Bible. To be sure, sermons are preached on it, and commentaries have occasionally been written on it, but almost without exception Esther has been interpreted in isolation from the rest of Biblical history, chronology, and…
Dear Mr. ______, . . . Here is how I look at the geocentricity question. Since I don’t recall what I wrote you before, I may be repeating some things. 1. The Bible does not teach it. Biblical passages used to support the idea are being misinterpreted. My original paper…
Answer 4 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is often taken as a magnificent answer to the question, "What is God?" It reads: "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth." Presbyterians are fond of praising this statement, preaching on it,…
The gospels tell us that at Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him "in bodily form like a dove" (Luke 3:22 & parallels). Biblically sensitive commentators have associated this event with three Old Testament parallels: (1) the hovering of the Spirit over the creation in Genesis 1:2; (2) the…
This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. (John 8:6) The story of the woman taken in adultery (John 7:53-8:11) has been part of the canonical Christian Bible from its earliest…
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At every stage of His incarnation, Jesus is involved with the Spirit. Jesus was conceived by the Spirit, anointed with the Spirit at His baptism, offered Himself in the Spirit on the cross, rose by the power of the Spirit, and then at His ascension, the Father conferred the fullness…
Dr. Timothy George, Dean of Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, was the first Nevin Lecturer at Trinity House in February 2014 on the topic of “Baptist Sacramental Theology.” Videos of those lectures are now available here . In an 1844 sermon on Ephesian 4, John Williamson Nevin declared that “unity…
The Eucharist is a memorial of Jesus, a ritual portrayal of the church God promised to form. It points toward a future union. Because it is a memorial, it is also the path toward that ultimate goal .
The possibility that the Babylonian “creation” stories were influenced by the biblical account are usually dismissed quickly for chronological reasons. The Babylonian texts are, it is said, much earlier than Genesis. John Walton thinks this quick dismissal too quick ( Ancient Israelite Literature in its Cultural Context , 36): “Though…
Ronald Byars’s Come and See is a piece of theological/religious reporting, but on a topic that doesn’t often get press coverage - the movement among Presbyterians (in the PCUSA) toward weekly communion. Byars documents that the number of churches that celebrate communion each week is increasing, examines the pastoral challenges…
In the blessing he pronounced over Israel, Aaron was to say “Yahweh make His face to shine upon you” (Numbers 6). Why this particular form of blessing? God’s face shines like the sun, and so gives life and health to all it shines on. If a man is like a…
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