Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Place names become fraught with meaning by association with people and events. The name “Wittenberg” calls to mind Luther and the Reformation for Protestants and Catholics alike. Geneva has a wider range of associations, but the Reformation Wall, with its four main statues of William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza,…
“…a mystery without a solution, a horror story without savagery, a nightmare in which all the watches stop at noonday…” The Bestial Gardens of Men Then they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” (Luke 23:30) The following lines by Edgar Allan Poe,…
2 Samuel 11-12, which record David’s sin with Bathsheba and its aftermath, is structured chiastically: This arrangement highlights several things about the episode. It reinforces what is obvious from even a casual reading, that the transition in the story occurs with Nathan’s confrontation of David’s sin and David’s confession. Up…
Medieval bestiaries are packed with quaintly inaccurate information about animals, birds, and other created things. Foxes and snakes are devilish critters; stags, pelicans and elephants are Christlike in their various ways. Of course, the medievals picked this up from the Bible, where bestiary observations are fairly common. “Go to the…
What do Reformational Catholicism and craft beer have in common? The question seems to beg for a punchline. Better yet, it would be pretty good clickbait for an article on Katharina von Bora’s “spirited” contribution that helped spark the Protestant Reformation. Well, this is no joke and I am certainly…
Suffering Defined Suffering happens. We witness it all around us and experience it in our lives. It often comes from forces beyond our control. Suffering is inscrutable; it strikes unexpectedly, on a bright summer day or a cold winter night. We lament and are bewildered by suffering. But we are…
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Robert Pinsky, The Life of David . New York: Schocken, 2005. 209 pp. I was prepared to dislike Pinsky’s book, and the howler on the first page of the text was not encouraging (“David and the Witch of Endor”!?). My dislike deepened as the book progressed: Pinsky, a widely admired…
Robert Pinsky, The Life of David . New York: Schocken, 2005. 209 pp. I was prepared to dislike Pinsky’s book, and the howler on the first page of the text was not encouraging (“David and the Witch of Endor”!?). My dislike deepened as the book progressed: Pinsky, a widely admired…
Phillip Cary has a long, intriguing article in the Fall 2005 issue of Pro Ecclesia entitled “Why Luther is Not Quite Protestant.” Cary touches on soteriological issues, particularly justification, and the relation of soteriology to sacramental theology. Early in the article, he poses the opposition between Luther and “Protestantism” with…
Near the end of a lengthy TLS review of a posthumously published series of interviews with Jacques Derrida ( Apprendre a vivre envin ), reviewer Ramona Fotiade quotes several intriguing selections from the interview. Derrida admits that life is “irreducible to what I say” and goes on to concede that…
A student suggests that Jonah 2:4 is at the center of a chiasm that goes from 1:17 to the end of chapter 2. In 2:4, Jonah says that he looks toward the temple of Yahweh, and the centrality of that statement supports the notion that Jonah-in-the-fish is a type of…
Ruth is redeemed by an Israelite savior, Boaz. But she meets an Israelite widow before she knows that there is an Israelite savior, and she comes to know the savior through her association with the widow. Typologically: The Gentiles pledge themselves to Israel, and through Israel come to know Israel’s…
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