Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Pastor John Piper has written on why he (probably) won’t be voting in this month’s presidential election. Reading his argument, I couldn’t help wondering if voting has a cultic significance to Piper. As much as self-admitted Christian Trump-voters are characterized as cult followers, Never Trump Christians often strike me as…
Seek happiness in tranquillity and avoid ambition, even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself… –– Victor Frankenstein In Mary Shelley’s classic novel, Victor Frankenstein is a young intellectual with an excessive thirst for glory and worldwide acclaim. Having lost his beloved mother, Frankenstein works to…
“Our daughter is just like a baby hippo,” my wife says to me as I hang my coat up. “After we watched a video of hippos munching whole watermelons, she sat down to her own watermelon lunch. She gobbled them up with those same puffy cheeks and big eyes.” My…
Christian compromise with Nazi Germany’s political leadership is well documented in painful detail. There was resistance, but it was the exception rather than the rule. German Christianity was terribly timid. Leadership lacked spiritual strength because of serious Biblical ignorance and unbelief. But it was not just the leaders. Christians in…
Can a Christian vote for Donald Trump? That might seem like a surprising question given the widespread evangelical support for the President. Yet for a growing number of evangelicals, to vote for Trump is to endorse his moral repugnancy and further discredit gospel-believing Christians who have sold their birthright for…
Thirty-eight years is a long time to take getting somewhere (Deut. 2:14). You could just ask anyone in the unfaithful generation of people whom God brought to the edge of the Promised Land the first time under Moses—if they were still alive, that is (Num. 14:22-23, 32-35). But there are…
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Elijah is leading a counter-temple movement in 1 Kings 17-18. Israel’s worship has become so corrupt that a new temple is needed. Elijah is setting up the new temple; in fact, he is the new temple, a human, mobile, tabernacular alternative to Dan and Bethel. Consider: Ravens bring Elijah (sacrificial)…
Some notes for a Bible Study on Proverbs 1, heavily dependent on Bruce Waltke’s recent fine commentary (NICOT). INTRODUCTION This passage is part of the opening preamble and prologue of Proverbs (Waltke?s terms). It divides neatly into two sections: The first, verses 1-7, describe the purpose of the Proverbs as…
INTRODUCTION When Israel is pursuing Canaanite worship and culture with full force, Yahweh acts. Elijah, a new Moses, bursts into Israel?s history and single-handedly leads the people to renew the covenant they had made at Sinai (1 Kings 17-19). Then Elisha, a new Joshua, leads a reconquest of the land…
Notes on Titus Andronicus , drawn from various sources, mainly Robert Miola, ?Titus Andronicus: Rome and the Family,?Ein Titus Andronicus: Critical Essays . 1) Titus Andronicus is sometimes seen as an anomaly among Shakespeare?s Roman plays in that it is set in Rome but shows little interest in Rome itself.…
Now Elah was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk. We noted in the sermon this morning that the kings of Israel get worse and worse as time goes by. Jeroboam is the worst king, until Omri. Omri is the worst king ever, until Ahab his son. Jeroboam?s son Nadab is an…
The author of Kings tells us that Ahab considered it a ?trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.?ENo wonder. Israel has been worshiping golden calves at Dan and Bethel for generations. It?s become customary, traditional. No one is shocked by it anymore.…
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