Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
When might the Gospel according to Matthew have been written? Of course, any answer can only be speculation, but that does not mean we are reduced to groundless opinion. In this series of articles I point the way to an approach different from the general consensus among scholars today which…
In my first essay on “synopticity” I offered a rather rough definition of the phenomenon and important, though not exhaustive examples. In this essay, I want to introduce broader aspects of the phenomenon of “synopticity.” The first example that I have in mind is conventional stories, stories of different historical…
Since the judgment of Babel was followed by the initiation of the circumcision, the impending end of the circumcision in AD70 explains the significance of the first century miracle of foreign tongues. Except for a few Aramaic “teasers” in the book of Daniel, the Word of God was monolingual and…
To the best of my knowledge “synopticity” is not a word used in theology or Biblical studies, but it seems an appropriate word to describe the kind of phenomena associated with the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These three Gospels tell essentially the same story with significant — sometimes…
Humor is a funny thing. It is altogether familiar yet also mysterious. What makes us laugh? Why do we find things funny? There are academic fields of study dedicated to discovering what makes things humorous. These academicians even have a journal entitled International Journal of Humor Research . No joke.…
Out of all the characters in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales , the Pardoner has been called the “one lost soul.” The pious Parson, who closes out the collection of tales with a sermon on the seven deadly sins and how a sinner can absolve himself of them, connects the…
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In a 1950 article on “Agrarianism in Exile,” Richard Weaver pointed out that the Southern Agrarians did not begin their careers are publicists or partisans, but as poets: “The served the music of poetry” (589). This is revealing: “It tells us a great deal about a man to know that…
In the translator's introduction to Augusto Del Noce's Crisis of Modernity , Carlo Lancelotti outlines Del Noce's theory about the “heterogenesis of ends” in Marxism, its simultaneous failure and success. Originally attracted to a synthesis of Christianity and Marx, Del Noce hesitated because of his moral objections to Marxism's justification…
Every wedding is a liturgy. Note, I didn’t say: Every wedding has a liturgy. Or, Weddings tend to take liturgical form . Rather: Every wedding is a liturgy. Not only weddings like this one, with formal dress, dignified processions, pre-scripted words and prayers, gorgeous music, dialogue between minister and people.…
In The Dilemma of Freedom and Foreknowledge , Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski outlines a variety of solutions to the dilemma of the title - how God's omniscience, which includes omniscience regarding the future, is compatible with human freedom. Is it possible to account for God's foreknowledge in such a way that…
Paul's apologetic sermon in Acts 17 is often taken as a model of apostolic accommodation. He quotes “one of your own poets,” speaks of “divine nature,” introduces the Athenians to a God they already vaguely know. His sermon is not so much news as an elaboration of what the Athenians…
When Israel conquered and settled in Canaan, two and a half tribes settled on the eastern side of the Jordan, in “transJordanian” territory - Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joseph. The Chronicler treats these three tribes as a complex unit in 1 Chronicles…
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