Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Thus says the Lord: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more” (Jer 31:15). The Night of the Hunter belongs on every Christian’s Christmas list. My family has even…
One important part of Jesus's birth narrative is the presence of angels. The angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary, announcing that she would bear a son. And then, on the night Jesus was born, a whole host of angels appeared to the shepherds. Angels are mysterious creatures to us.…
I was settled nicely into my chair and listening to the conversation in an undergrad religion seminar, my last required course to graduate. Though a few Christians sat scattered around the room, the course itself was dedicated to poking holes in traditional understandings of the Bible: our readings deconstructed notions…
God’s symbols belong to Him and to His people. They are constantly at work in the world, including the world of film, music, painting, architecture, and other artforms. You cannot escape God’s symbols or the meaning He has woven into the created order. Artists use and borrow God’s symbols, whether…
For centuries, Christians identified Israel in the Old Testament as a single, literal ethnic group, often called “the Jews.” Even supersessionists – those who believed the Church superseded Israel – assumed the clear-cut, technical definition of “Israel” in the Bible is the ethnic group. However, a deeper dive into Genesis,…
Misreading Intent In the opening verses of Matthew 11, the reader is confronted immediately by John the baptizer who has been imprisoned since 4:12. John poses a question to Jesus, inquiring from prison as to whether or not he is Israel’s awaited Messiah or if they should anticipate another: “Are…
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As a teacher, Dr. Leithart modeled the deep and careful reading of Scripture that first attracted me to his writing. He also modeled a keen interest in tracing out the liturgical and cultural ramifications of the Bible. Academic theology departments are often sadly compartmentalized: one has to decide whether to…
I was led to the work of Jim Jordan and Peter Leithart at seminary. As I read and listened, I came to realize that the Bible is bigger and more beautiful than I’d ever dreamed. And fun - I started reading Scripture once more with the hunger I’d had as…
Michael Jenson concludes in his Martyrdom and Identity: The Self on Trial that, while martyrdom is a form of Christian identity, it is not a matter of self-narration: “Martyrdom is not a sign that the Christian self is always at odds with earthly government; but neither is the authentic Christian…
The Economist recently reviewed Halik Kochanski’s The Eagle Unbowed: Poland and the Poles in the Second World War , which the reviewer called the first “comprehensive English-language history of Poland at war.” Even in the brief format of a review, it makes for numbing reading. For instance: “Poland fought on…
After listening to 20+ students talk about Isaiah 45:1-13, I’ve concluded that it’s a chiasm: A. Cyrus’ way is smoothed as the Lord shatters city gates and gives him treasures, vv 1-4 B. Yahweh the Creator does this to make Himself known, vv 5-7 C. Righteousness rains down and produces…
Boyarin again ( Dying for God: Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity and Judaism (Figurae: Reading Medieval Culture) , 9), suggesting a linguistic paradigm for understanding the divergences and interactions between Christianity and Judaism: “Separate languages . . . are merely artifacts of the official canonization of a particular dialect…
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