Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Paul writes to Jews, “You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?” (Romans 2:22b) The English translation “rob temples” makes readers think of pagan temples. There was only one Temple for Israel, so robbing more than one would indicate other temples are in view. And if the Jews wanted to…
Two offerings Humanity’s first vocation involves guarding and serving the trees that emerge from the ground (Genesis 2:15). God provides these trees to humanity for food. A serpent appears and tempts the couple to eat from a special forbidden tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Humanity…
At the outset of the Torah (as Christians understand it), a triune God creates the heavens and earth over the course of a seven-day week. Why? What’s the connection between the three and the seven? Could a triune God have created the world over any period of time he chose?…
How relevant to the modern reader are the flying axe head of Deuteronomy 19:5 and the roof parapet of Deuteronomy 22:8? Indeed, how relevant were they to the daily lives of Israelites thirty-five hundred years ago? Suppose that accidental falls from rooftops were exceedingly uncommon in ancient Israel, or that…
1 For most of my life, the standing of the American church as a source of national social and political order was measured by reports from the front of the so-called “culture wars.” 2 Memory brings to mind battles over feminism and the ERA, so-called gay rights, the breakdown of…
But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel…’ And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the…
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Noah Feldman has a challenging review of Jay Sekulow’s book on the religion of the Supreme Court in the Feb 20 issue of TNR. He argues that the Constitution’s prohibition of religious oaths means a subordination of religious to political conviction: “To move beyond Locke, the Framers had to do…
The Romans were deeply anti-semitic, as a number of studies have shown. So, when they dress Jesus up in purple, press a crown of thorns on his head, genuflect before Him, they are mocking the Jews as much as they are mocking Jesus: Here’s the best that the Jews can…
The Romans were deeply anti-semitic, as a number of studies have shown. So, when they dress Jesus up in purple, press a crown of thorns on his head, genuflect before Him, they are mocking the Jews as much as they are mocking Jesus: Here’s the best that the Jews can…
A number of students point out the contrast between Simon of Cyrene, who takes up Jesus’ cross and follows Him, and Simon Peter, who denies Jesus out of fear. The Gentile Simon proves a more faithful disciple, in this moment of crisis, than the Jewish Simon.
I’m sure the point has been made elsewhere, perhaps by Wright, but the substitution of Jesus for Barabbas is not only a sign of a generalized substitutionary atonement (though it is that); it is also a sign that Jesus is specifically substituting for Israel. He is the true faithful Israelite…
INTRODUCTION The Omride dynasty had a long-lasting impact on both the Northern and Southern kingdoms. Though the two kingdoms are no longer ruled by a single dynasty, they are very similar, twin prostitutes, as Ezekiel 23 describes it. THE TEXT “In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah,…
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