Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Summary In what follows, I will consider the “year-stamps” employed in Scripture, i.e., statements of the form, “Such-and-such an event took place in the Xth year of Y.” In the process, I will suggest some ways in which the Biblical narrative might relate to events in the extra-Biblical world, though…
In the first essay on the parable of the Prodigal Son, I suggested that the problems commentators and others encounter in interpreting Jesus three-part parable are not accidental. These are not just problems in our ignorance of cultural background. They are intentional features of the stories —stories designed to poke…
The story of the Prodigal Son is perhaps the most well-known story in the Bible. As others have observed, it may also be one of the most misunderstood. In two short essays, I will point out features of this story that are commonly neglected, aspects of Jesus’ parable that might…
The parable of Lazarus and the nameless rich man is not an independent story. It is part of a long context that begins in Luke 15:1, where Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners and the scribes and Pharisees grumble. In response to their hardheartedness, Jesus tells a three-part…
The Bible is written so that even when a reader cannot pick up on what might be deeper or more detailed aspects of a text, there is virtually always a message to be heard. In the ancient world, where the “reader” of Scripture would likely be a church official facing…
The distinction between garden (or vineyard) and field begins in Genesis 2. This relates to the ordering of the formless world. Plants of the field are contrasted with the garden planted by God in Genesis 2:5&8. Later on, under the Old Covenant the Israelites will be required to keep their…
Showing page 77 of 309
Showing page 36 of 43
I n his Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society , Rusty Reno finds a “false view of freedom as unimpeded choice and self-definition” at the root of many of our political, economic, and social pathologies. In the name of freedom, we have “deregulated” culture, a policy shift with far…
R usty Reno ( Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society ) summarizes the findings of Charles Murray's 2013 Coming Apart . Murray compares two statistical cohorts - an upper class one that he labels Belmont and a working class cohort called Fishtown. He finds a growing gap not only…
N ear the beginning of his Divine Simplicity (xviii-xix), Paul Hinlickey briefly explains the differences between his “weak” account of simplicity and the “strong” accounts of Thomas and others. In many classic treatments, simplicity is “a rationally evident ontological implication that comes about by analysis of the ground of a…
T he best anthropologists are specialists in difference. They operate on the assumption of distance between the anthropologist and the object of study. The great anthropological sin is to incorporate the different into a variation of the same, to impose the anthropologist's social, philosophical, religious, or political categories on a…
S ome of the freshest commentary on the 2016 Presidential election has been coming from Dilbert creator Scott Adams. Adams has endorsed Clinton, as he says, “for my own personal safety,” but he has also stated that he doesn't vote. He wants to maintain objective distance from the fray, and…
L uke Timothy Johnson's critique of John Paul II's theology of the body isn't convincing. He complains about the way the Pope uses Scripture, moving from text to exhortation in an “uncritical” way, and failing to rise to the level of “serious theological engagement” ( The Revelatory Body , 25).…
Showing page 265 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
