Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In this essay we will think about how the whole Bible is structured as one Word of God. To begin with, there is only one Bible, not two. While we divide the Bible into Old and New Testaments, that division has no more meaning than divisions into chapters and verse,…
How should one badly bruised and inadequate church relate to another? (I am not addressing the blessed possessors of absolutely perfect churches, naturally.) I believe there are three things to bear in mind. First, we must be open to the values in other Christian traditions - even Roman Catholic and…
The third and sixth day have a second creative act. Note the chiastic arrangement of the material in these special acts and the parallelism between them, see the figure below. The author arranges the description of each day as a chiasm. Each line in the chiasm is mated with a…
Now the two of them were naked, the man and his woman, and they did not sense shame (Genesis 2:25) The nakedness of Adam and Eve requires several comments. First of all, against those who think that nakedness is what God intended for humanity as a permanent estate, we have…
I’ve been reflecting on the meaning of integration, and our longing for integration in a fragmented world. I’ve been connecting my own covenant epistemology further with the thought of scientist-philosopher Michael Polanyi, artist Makoto Fujimura, and Classical Christian metaphysician D.C. Schindler. In my last post , and now in this…
Luke 13:31-33 is one of the strangest passages in the Gospel of Luke. It begins with a time note that sounds emphatic “At that very hour.” Then, we are told of Pharisees bringing a message that Herod wants to kill Jesus! In His answer, Jesus speaks of a three day…
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Yahweh makes water in the wilderness, and where there is water there is a city (Psalm 107:33-38). Water may not seem a very stable foundation for urbanization, but it is the necessary basis for the life of any human community. Without water, people can’t live, their livestock won’t survive, nothing…
Jezebel’s appearance in 1-2 Kings is part of a continuing story of Israel’s relationship with Tyre and Sidon. During the days of David and Solomon, Hiram king of Tyre was an ally of Israel. This is the ideal relationship between Jew and Gentiles, Israel and the nations. Jezebel represents an…
Jesus appears with fiery eyes, more specifically with eyes that are “flame(s) of fire” (Gr. hos phlox/phloga puros , 1:15; 2:18). The phrase has Old Testament roots. Moses sees the angel of the Lord en phlogi puros on Sinai (Exodus 3:2; LXX), and in the plague of hail fire is…
With cynicism about politics widespread, it’s good to have James Skillen’s seasoned, balanced reminder of The Good of Politics . A few excerpts. At the outset, Skillen questions the common separation of politics and culture: “can political really be distinguished as a realm separate from culture? Isn’t political life one…
Noah Smith thinks that drones are the new gunpowder. Guns and gunpowder revolutionized warfare. A barely trained peasant could take down a proud knight from a distance. Smith argues that the drone is about to replace the gunman. That means an upheaval in warfare. The Age of the Gun, he…
William Broad reports in the New York Times that budget cuts in federal science programs have created a crisis in research. Billionaires have stepped into the gap to fund projects that they deem important. This disturbs the scientific establishment,. Steven Edwards of the American Association for the Advancement of Science…
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