Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Recently I gave a short talk at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, as part of their Wisdom Forum series. 1 This particular forum concerned “the good life.” My portion concerned longing for God in connection with the good life. I share that talk with you here. This foray concerns a matter…
“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But…
Click HERE for an audio version of this article. For part 1 of this series, click HERE . The New Covenant changes none of this. There is nothing new or odd about Mary’s sitting at Jesus’ feet, nothing strange about various “deaconesses” serving the Incarnate Tabernacle. Paul affirms that in…
Click HERE for an audio version of this article. For Part 2, click HERE . 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…
During the final hours of Jesus' life, His disciples stumble. They stumble for the same reason that John and his disciples were in danger of being scandalized. A Messiah who leaves suffering and imprisonment in His wake is not much of a Messiah. A Messiah who gets seized and tried…
The Hebrew word for dew (tal) refers both to morning dew and nighttime mist. Dew was important to Ancient Near Eastern agriculture. The climate was so hot and dry that often only the dew kept vegetation alive during drought and heat. According to the New Bible Dictionary, "Dew is beneficial…
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Hans Schaller has some profound reflections on asking in his contribution to Asking and Thanking (Concilium) , p. 3 . Disputing Seneca, he says that asking is a fundamental human form of communication, for two reasons. First, “The strength of trust, whether between God and human beings or between human…
In his fourteenth-century Summa praedicantium, Johannes de Bromyard offers this lovely description of a creation returning thanks: “For if the flowers continuously taking in the rays of the sun ceaselessly render back bright colors and scent, it follows by a stronger reason that we who day and night constantly receive…
I offer some thoughts on the church’s response to the current debates and crises in American health care at http://www.firstthings.com/
Caleb Dalechamp wrote in his delightfully titled 1632 book, Christian Hospitalitie Handled Common-Place-Wise that “Hospitalitie falsely so called is the keeping of a good table, at which seldome or never any other are entertained then kynsfolk, friends and able neighbours . . . . This is no hospitalitie, though it…
In the aforementioned article on giving in the early church, Neil makes this intriguing comment about the Old Testament and Jewish understanding of “the poor”: “Justice for the poor is a strong theme in rabbinic texts. Injunctions to act justly towards the poor are evident in the earliest books of…
I n a 2010 essay on “Models of Gift Giving in the Preaching of Leo the Great” in the Journal of Early Christian Studies , Bronwen Neil answers the title question with a depressing, Not much. While the early church took over the Jewish and New Testament rhetoric on behalf…
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