Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
References to the Son of Man coming on the clouds occur five times in the Synoptic Gospels. Three times such expressions appear in the parallel accounts of the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:36; Luke 21:27). Then, in parallel accounts of Jesus’ trial before the leaders of Israel, such expressions…
Just what the difference is in the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and the New Testament is a question not so easily answered. The distinction is often said to be that in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit is on the believer, but in the New…
1. Introduction You should think of 1917 at church on Sunday. Why? Let me explain. There's one film every Oscar season which everyone seems to have watched—your parents, your colleagues, even your pastor. This year, it's 1917— Sam Mendes' WW1 epic following two British Tommies on a seemingly impossible quest…
This piece was originally part of the Bowyer response to the Theopolis series surrounding Professor McDermott’s essay, “Rethinking Israel.” For the sake of brevity, it was removed from the initial response, to be published as a standalone piece. As we’ve argued previously , we are strongly supportive of the right…
Richard Bauckham’s groundbreaking work, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony , is profoundly insightful, but the message of the book is hampered by the presupposition of Marcan priority. Ironically the place where this assumption perhaps does its most damage is in Bauckham’s discussion of the apostle Matthew…
The Protestant Reformation was defined by certain clarifying disagreements between the medieval Church and those who came to be known as Protestant Reformers. Chief among these was the nature of justification: whether one was justified by works, or by faith and works, or—as Martin Luther contended—by faith alone. Now over…
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The November 22 Science News reports on the work of Pawan Sinha, a neuroscientist at MIT who has observed the effects of cataract surgery on youngsters born blind. One of the interesting findings is that correcting the cataracts does not immediately mean that the children are capable of what we…
Another student on Sir Gawain suggests that it represents a sort of Platonized protest against courtly love. Gawain lies passively in bed while the woman tries to seduce him, yielding only a chaste kiss. And his great fault was his love of physical, earthly life. A very plausible thesis.
Another student suggests that the three temptations at the center of Sir Gawain show that Gawain is a Christ figure, tempted in bed as Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. Perhaps the analogies could be pressed, but it looks doubtful. Gawain as a Christ figure is less obvious than Gawain…
Another student suggests that the three temptations at the center of Sir Gawain show that Gawain is a Christ figure, tempted in bed as Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. Perhaps the analogies could be pressed, but it looks doubtful. Gawain as a Christ figure is less obvious than Gawain…
A student paper on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight suggests that in accepting the green girdle from the lady of the castle, Sir Gawain is changing his “lady” from the Virgin Mary to the green lady. That works at several levels: Sir Gawain has Mary’s portrait on the inside…
A recent discussion concerning food and culture with some friends provokes the following thoughts: One of the points of the discussion was whether or not high quality food, attention to artistry in making food, is a product of Christian culture. When I cited France to illustrate that good food can…
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