Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Some of the key ways Biblical writers draw attention to important details in their stories are by the use of key words, repetition, and structural devices like chiasms and parallel constructions. The Bible sounds different, even odd, to us sometimes because of the use of these and similar literary conventions.…
It is pretty standard in conservative Christian circles to condemn unbelief for pretensions of “autonomy.” Cornelius Van Til famously (at least among those of us who knows who he is) said that “There is no alternative but that of theonomy and autonomy.” Greg Bahnsen appealed to this quotation by labeling…
Jesus was the greatest teacher who ever taught — the Light of the World, whose pure Truth brought sight to the blind (John 9). Almost no one — even those who speak openly against Him — disputes His reputation as a wise and good teacher of the way of love.…
It is clear that the events in Esther are an integral part of the history of the formation of the Restoration Covenant Era. Amalek attacks. Amalek is spoiled. The spoils are used to build the Temple, in the sense that the crude Temple of Zerubbabel can now be glorified with…
It is not coincidental that John Calvin speaks most strongly in defense of vernacular language just after his defense of singing in church. "From this also it plainly appears that public prayers must be couched not in Greek among the Latins, nor in Latin among the French or English, as…
In A Voyage Around the World , George Anson recounts the effects of scurvy upon an unfortunate man: But a most extraordinary circumstance, and what would be scarcely credible upon any single evidence, is, that the scars of wounds which had been for many years healed, were forced open again…
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As many have observed, Paul alludes to Psalm 106 in his condemnation of the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men in Romans 1. Paul writes that human beings “exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and of four-footed animals…
What makes the United States ” one nation “? I offer some thoughts at Firstthings.com this morning.
Karen Joines ( The Incomparable Divine Kinsman of Second Isaiah ) gives this fine summary of the Old Testament description of Yahweh as go’el : ” Go’el used of God means that he is the ‘kinsman’ of those without kinsmen, that he can withhold life from the jaws of Sheol,…
O’Connell ( Concentricity and Continuity: The Literary Structure of Isaiah (Library Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies) , 244-5). Historically, the sequence is: Isaiah prophecies concerning Judah’s cultic and social sins, but Judah is too blind and deaf to respond. The prophet and his message are “utterly rejected.” Isaiah warns of a…
Yahweh is going to redeem Israel in the latter days, and the deliverance will be so dramatic that Israel will forget her former deliverance (Isaiah 43:18). As Robert O’Connell points out ( Concentricity and Continuity: The Literary Structure of Isaiah (Library Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies) , 25), this announcement is…
O’Connell ( Concentricity and Continuity: The Literary Structure of Isaiah (Library Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies) ) finds a complex sevenfold structure in Isaiah: A. 1:1-2:5: exordium, appeal for reconciliation B. Two accusatory sections B1. Cultic, 2:6-21 B2. Social, 3:1-4:1 C. Two prophecies of punishment and reconciliation C1. Zion, 4:2-11:16 C2.…
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