Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The ordination of women to the Christian ministry, specifically the pastoral office of overseeing worship and performing preaching and the Lord's Supper, is a recent development in Church history. From the early church until the late 20th century, women were never ordained as ministers of word and sacrament, not in…
The Office of Deaconness in the Garden The last act of Yahweh God in creating the world was the glorification of humanity by the creation of woman. The woman is the glory of the man, and thus a "better version" of the man, an improvement in the sense of being…
One of the first things the Bible says about God is that He is concerned with keeping time. He is not bound by time, but He is also not detached from time or disinterested in it. From the very beginning of creation, He keeps time. He defines what constitutes a…
We are surrounded by lists; we construct lists all the time. Pop music has its continuous Top 50 lists, and the New York Times has a regular best-sellers list. Many of us are fascinated by the lists of nominees for the academy awards, glance at the Sports pages to see…
Trinity House fellow Rev. Jeff Meyers and Peter Leithart will lecture at the annual All Saints conference at Community Presbyterian church in Louisville, Kentucky, November 1-3. Click here for schedule and registration.
The French Jesuit theologian Henri de Lubac (1896-1991) was one of the most significant Catholic theologians of the twentieth century, a central figure in the ressourcement movement and the nouvelle theologie that inspired the change of atmosphere in the Catholic church leading up to Vatican II. In his book on…
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What has Pentecost to do with public life? As Paul would say, much in every way. The Bible does not permit us to confine the work of the Spirit to the inner man or to private experience. Through Isaiah (44:3), the Lord promised to pour out water on the land…
It’s the season of the Spirit, a time to muse on the politics of Pentecost. When Israel’s prophets predict the future coming of the Spirit, their next thought is almost always about the renewal of creation. According to Joel, the Spirit’s coming will turn Israel into Big Rock Candy Mountain”wine…
In Discourses on Livy , Machiavelli exposes the ruse of Roman law. Numa, the true founder of Rome, "mistrusted his own authority, lest it should prove insufficient to enable him to introduce new and unaccustomed ordinances in Rome." And so he claimed that the law came from the gods. All…
Pamela Tamarkin Reis ("Seeing Moses Plain," VT 55 [2005] 207-31) thinks that Moses' response to Yahweh in Numbers 11 is a model prayer. First, Moses refers to Israel as "this people," which is "a disdainful, arms-length usage employed frequently in the Bible to distance oneself from and to denigrate the…
Benjamin Sommer ("Reflecting on Moses," JBL 18 [1999] 601-624) thinks that Numbers 11 weaves together two sources, with very different descriptions of Moses. In narrative A, Moses is petulant, angry, despises his role as leader of Israel, wishes for death. According to B, he is an exemplary prophet, concerned for…
Israel’s sanctuaries were dramatically different from those of other nations. There was no image of Yahweh. The priests maintained Yahweh’s house, but His presence was either invisible or so intense that it was unapproachable. The aniconic worship of Israel was a standing reminder that their God is a different sort…
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