Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
1 Kings 17, which abruptly introduces Elijah into the history of the northern kingdom, is a carefully constructed literary unit. In its basic structure, it follows a clear exodus-return pattern. Like Jacob and his sons, Elijah was driven out of the land by a famine (vv. 1-4). In exile, Elijah…
Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and they were scoffing at Him. And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is…
In the year 3119, Ahaziah of Judah and Jehoram of Israel were both slain by Jehu as he carried out his God-appointed task of eliminating the seed and house of Ahab (2 Kings 9:13-33). Since the kings of Israel are usually counted as beginning their reign in the same year…
One of the most important developments in Biblical studies in recent years has been a movement of scholars devoted to studying the literary techniques of the Biblical writers. Tremper Longman, III of Westminster Theological Seminary has treated this movement from a Reformed perspective in his Literary Approaches to Biblical Interpretation…
And because [Paul] was of the same trade, he stayed with [Aquila and Priscilla] and they were working; for by trade they were tentmakers (Acts 18:3). The fact that Paul was by trade a tentmaker has usually been taken as the springboard for a discussion of whether pastors should have…
I pointed out in Chronologies and Kings Part 9 that the years of Judah’s kings are given in chronological fashion. "When we read of a Judahite king’s reign as lasting 4 years, it means that 4 years of the chronology have been given to him, and there is no chronological…
Showing page 290 of 309
Showing page 37 of 43
In his Reveries of the Solitary Walker (Oxford World’s Classics) , Rousseau muses on the “complete and utterly disinterested benevolence” that he would show if he could avoid “forming an attachment to anyone in particular” and “taking on the burden of any responsibilities.” If only he could be entirely anonymous,…
It was Jodocus van Lodenstein, the Dutch reformer, who first coined epigram, ‘Ecclesia reformata semper reformanda est secundum Verbum Dei: the church is reformed and always being reformed according to the Word of God.’ Central to that ongoing reforming work in our day is the recovery of richly Biblical worship.…
INTRODUCTION As He has done before (Isaiah 41:1), Yahweh again summons the peoples to court to present their cases against Him (43:8-9). In the courtroom of history, Israel is a witness in Yahweh’s favor (43:10, 12; 44:8), proving that Yahweh alone is God (43:10). At the center of His defense…
Patrick Coleman notes in his Anger, Gratitude, and the Enlightenment Writer (pp. 9-10) that early Enlightenment writers didn’t necessarily dismiss God. They merely defanged him: “Enlightenment writers were acutely conscious of the ways in which secular as well as ecclesiastical authorities could brandish the image of an angry God to…
Locke ( Two Treatises of Government ) argues that political authority, because it exists only by the consent of free people, cannot exercise power beyond the purposes for which it was constituted. Because it exists for the protection of property, it cannot have power to take property without consent. He…
At the beginning of the first of his Two Treatises of Government , John Locke refutes the Scriptural arguments of Robert Filmer’s Patriarcha ( Filmer: ‘Patriarcha’ and Other Writings (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought) ). Filmer claims that political authority is grounded in paternal authority, and characterizes…
Showing page 871 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
