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…
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Aron Dunlap ( Lacan and Religion ) summarizes Lacan’s theory of the imaginary, the symbolic, and the real: “The imaginary is the world that we share with the other residents of the animal kingdom. The symbolic is the space of the properly human world of language, law and order. Lacan…
Tom Bissell’s New Republic profile of William T. Vollmann, journalist, author of legendarily gargantuan novels, painter of nudes and vaginas, is supportive, not to say fawning (though, on second thought, yes, to say fawning). For readers, it will be disquieting. Bissell writes, “When I asked about his infamous fascination with…
In a 1 993 JSOT article, Anthony Tomasino examines the beginning (1:1-2:4) and end (63-66) of the canonical book of Isaiah, arguing that the two sections share not only vocabulary and themes but also have a common structure. He points, for example, to the references to “heaven and earth” that…
Donald Macleod’s Christ Crucified is largely a defense of a traditional Protestant understanding of penal substitutionary atonement. As is typical for Macleod, though, there are surprises along the way. This for instance: While “the unity of the divine Trinity remains unbroken throughout the passion,” it’s still the case that “the…
Michael J. Gorman expresses some surprise in his The Death of the Messiah and the Birth of the New Covenant that there hasn’t been a developed “covenant” model of the atonement. We have substitutionary, sacrificial, Christus Victor, moral influence, and so on, but no model that uses the biblical category…
Few human creations seem as permanent as buildings. Roman structures are still standing in Europe, and cathedrals have been around for centuries. But we know better. For every erect ancient building, there are dozens of ruins. The boast of Ozymandius is ironic indeed. What might we learn about architecture by…
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