Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
John 18:1-11 appears on the surface to be a straightforward, if somewhat unusual, narrative of Jesus’ arrest by officers of the chief priests and Pharisees accompanied by an apparently large group of Roman soldiers, all of them led by the betrayer, Judas. But there is much more here than what…
Why is the US embroiled in the Middle East? There are two primary answers: Oil and Israel. Both are fairly intractable problems, the latter in significant part because of the unique convergence of theology and politics that has forged American policy in the region. Dispensationalists insist that we must bless…
There’s a common theme that arises in the study of theologians James B. Jordan and Peter Leithart. It is this: Context matters. Details matter. This is God’s Word. The details are not arbitrary “filler” hiding the kernel of truth in the husk of the text. The husk and the kernel…
Perhaps the most fearful of all possibilities in the world is the possibility of betrayal on the part of someone who is in a “position of trust.” This, unfortunately, is the first block in what ought to be the foundation of every marriage in the world. Every woman has a…
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The way we talk about the world matters. Our doctrine of creation tells us that words do not simply reflect reality. They also shape it and the way we inhabit it. Among the world’s many language groups, the Church is distinct. She is called to name things with Scriptural language,…
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“In just about every case of a millenarian tyrant,” writes Waller Newell in his 2013 Tyranny , “we find a shattering experience in early life – failure to achieve a respectable career, distant or oppressive parents, shame and disgrace over the family name, a feeling of being excluded by the…
Paul's visit to Athens is nestled in the middle of a narrative sequence describing Paul's missionary journey. When Paul and Barnabas part ways because of their dispute over John Mark (15:36-39), Paul continues his missionary work with Silas. Together with Timothy, they visit Philippi (16:6-40), Thessalonica (17:1-9) and Berea (17:10-15).…
In ancient Israel, the vast majority of those circumcised were circumcised as infants. If one were developing a theology of circumcision, it wouldn't make sense to focus on the comparatively rare adolescent or adult circumcisions. What is normal in practice would naturally be the norm of theology. In the two-millennia…
In a 2010 article in The Other Shore , Rice University's Ewa Thompson argues that post-colonial categories are useful for explaining the experience of formerly Soviet-occupied areas of Eastern Europe, especially Poland. Many Poles, she admits, associate imperialism with European imperialism in Africa and link orientalism with the far east.…
Marjorie Garber's amusing summary ( Shakespeare After All ) of Shakespeare's Pericles captures the flavor of the play: “a man who woos a wicked, incestuous princess, solves a riddle, and flees her land—and who just happens to be shipwrecked on the shore of another land, where there is another princess…
In his recent biography of Charles Williams , Grevel Lindop summarizes Williams's essay on the cross, calling it Williams's “most powerful and honest theological essay.” Williams observes that the cross is “revolting to our sense of justice,” justifable only because it shows that God entered into our suffering. He challenges…
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