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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Oswald Bayer has a typically provocative essay in the Forde Festschrift , in which he explores the cosmic dimensions of justification by faith. A few highlights: 1) He points out that Luther’s explanation of the First Article of the creed already employs the language of justification: The Father provides for…
“The assertion of ‘justification by faith’ in the sixteenth-century Reformation can be understood only if it is clearly seen as a complete break with ‘justification by grace.’” So says Gerhard Forde. Marc Kolden begins a brief essay in By Faith Alone , a Festschrift for Forde, with this quotation. He…
Some of the highlights of Marjorie Garber’s discussion of Coriolanus . 1) With many critics, she emphasizes the emotional immaturity of the title hero: “Volumnia has refused to ever treat her son like a child, sending him out to war at an early age, and she emphasizes her own values…
And said ?Eliyyahu the Settler from the Settlers of Gil?ad to Achav, ?Life of Yahweh, Elohim of Yisrael Which I stand before Him If (surely not) there will be these years dew or rain Except to my mouth, my word.?E And it was the word of Yahweh to him, saying,…
Some notes on the death and resurrection of the widow’s son in 1 Kings 17. 1) This is not the first time we’ve seen a sick son in Kings. In chapter 14, Jeroboam sends his wife to a prophet to request a prognosis for Abijah. Here, there is no husband,…
Elijah listened to the word of Yahweh and obeyed, and the ravens provided him with food. The widow of Zarephath gives water to Elijah, and also follows the word of Yahweh that comes through Elijah, and the very same thing happens to her: She receives a miraculous provision of food.…
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