Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Interwoven within Leviticus’ opening offerings is a redemptive storyline meant to be rehearsed. Each offering makes a particular contribution to the retelling of the Exodus deliverance. Like learning a dance, Israel’s opening rituals recount their steps from Egypt to Sinai in a fashion meant to perpetually imprint its experience on…
In Capernaum, the leaders of Israel questioned Jesus in their hearts. Beside the sea, they questioned his disciples about their rabbi’s practices. They challenged Jesus in the grain fields, sought to trap him in the synagogue, tried to seize him, thinking he was mad, and accused him of being possessed.…
An essay on ministry taken from recent notes for a ‘solemn charge’ I gave our pastoral team (together with their spouses) at All Saints Honolulu, a church-plant that enters its fifth year. I. After receiving the sword of Goliath from Ahimelech at Nob, and after fleeing first to and then…
When thinking about the book of Genesis, we often think of beginnings, the beginning of the world, humanity, the elect people of God. The word “genesis” itself means beginning. Genesis is also known as the book of promises. Genesis contains three of the major Old Testament covenants: Adamic, Noahic and…
A Theological and Typological Commentary on Luke 24:4 In Luke 24:4, we are told that as the women arrived at the tomb on Easter morning, they encountered “two men in dazzling apparel” standing beside them. This description, on its own, may not immediately provoke questions. The traditional interpretation identifies these…
For Part 1, click HERE . The four Gospel accounts give us their strange and wonderful historical accounts of the resurrection of Jesus. The rest of the New Testament, either explicitly or by suggestion, refers to the resurrection in every book except 3 John. Unlike the Gospel accounts, however, most…
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“Christian life is an impossible newness given as an unfitting gift,” writes John Barclay in his contribution to Apocalyptic Paul . Since it is a gift, the “new competence” of believers “is wholly dependent on the life of Christ, present within” (73-74). But it’s important to specify what that gift…
In a 2007 essay reprinted in his Pauline Perspectives , NT Wright gives this tight and quite wonderful summary of what Paul says about the cross in Romans 5-8. He is correct about Paul and largely correct in his criticisms of traditional atonement theologies. He observes that the opening section…
Atonement theology has drawn heavily from Paul, also from the Passion narratives. In drawing on the Passion narratives, atonement theology often makes an allegorical transition from the specifics of the narrative to a more general narrative setting of “all humanity,” even a cosmic setting. Thus, when Jesus says He lays…
In a study of Barth and Hegel on liberation and atonement ( Christ Crucified in a Suffering World ), Nathan Hieb notes that Barth defends the traditional ascription of iustitia distributiva to God, the justice “by which God distinguishes between right and wrong human action and on this basis approves…
The flavor of this is somewhat too Girardian, but still an excellent statement of the Spirit’s anti-Satanic role from Mark Heim ( Saved from Sacrifice , 156): “Satan sows discord, flames the mimetic rivalries and animosities among persons that can blow up into social crisis, and then encourages the persecutory…
Everybody loves Jesus. Gandhi loves Jesus. The Dali Lama loves Jesus. Everybody thinks Jesus just the best. Not exactly everyone, because some thugs hated Him enough to kill Him. But now we see their error, and everybody loves Jesus. But many of those who love Jesus don’t believe He rose…
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