Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
1 Introduction ESTHER and RUTH are similar stories. Each details the changing fortunes of a young woman. Each begins with the protagonist in a destitute situation. The fortunes of each reverses by story’s end. Intriguing parallels exist: Scenes : The stories transition through a similar set of scenes, see Table…
Maybe this is not the best venue to reveal that I sometimes wonder about all that deep exegesis: the chiasms, the numerology, vowel modifications, the typological labyrinthes, the innumerable exodus patterns that are so often limned by Peter Leithart or James Jordan or Alastair Roberts. Maybe it’s because I am…
In 1923, J. Gresham Machen wrote the book he is perhaps most remembered for, “Christianity and Liberalism”. Machen wrote it to help map out the cultural currents that were impacting the church with the hope that the church could be vigilant against the dangers theological liberalism posed to historic Christianity.…
March 25, nine months before Christmas, is the date that is often associated with the Annunciation to Mary, Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that, by the coming of the Spirit upon her, she would conceive and bear the heir to David’s throne, whose kingdom would have no end. The story is…
Race and Covenant: Recovering the Religious Roots for American Reconciliation , edited by Gerald R. McDermott (Grand Rapids, MI: Acton Institute), 278 pp. A group of notable thinkers gathered to discuss biblical resources for addressing racial conflict in America in February 2019 at Samford University in Birmingham. Race and Covenant…
“Covenant Creationism,” which might be the most consistent brand of full preterism, is merely dispensationalism turned inside-out. The main cause of disputes over the interpretation of the Scriptures is the practice of interpreting texts in isolation. This applies not only to interpreting a passage without reference to other passages, but…
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A wonderful quotation from Luther’s late commentary on Genesis. He notes that law exists already in Eden, but he also makes it clear that this does not make the Edenic situation a “covenant of works”: “And so when Adam had been created in such a way that he was, so…
Hegel’s Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion includes the following: “Love is a distinguishing of the two, who nevertheless are absolutely not distinguished for each other. The consciousness or feeling of the identity of the two - to be outside of myself and in the other ?Ethis is love. I…
Some thoughts inspired by Dollimore’s book: It would seem that desire is inherently tragic. First, because desire arises from lack. We only desire what we do not yet have. But when our desires our satisfied, our lack is filled. When ALL our desires are satisfied, then all lack is filled,…
As I suspected, Dollimore gives Christianity’s cultural influence short shrift. He has a lot of insightful things to say about the ancients, but then he sees almost total continuity through early Christianity ?Ethe same links of desire and death, the same kind of anguish in the face of mutability. Maybe…
J. Neyrey points out the links between the temptation of Jesus early in Luke and the passion narratives later in Luke. Luke’s account of the temptation ends with Satan leaving until a more opportune moment, and it is commonly noted that Satan reappears in the passion narrative, entering Judas (Lk…
There appears to be a chiastic structure at work in Luke 3:1-7:35. Not everything fits, but there is enough to be suggestive: A. Ministry of John, 3:1-17 B. Jesus preaching and teaching in Nazareth, 4:16-30 (1. Quotes Is 61 2. Refers to Elijah’s aid to a widow and her son…
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