Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
My good friend, Jason Ewert, recently posted a review of Pastor Douglas Wilson’s book, Against the Church . Jason correctly notes that Pastor Wilson’s main pastoral motivation in writing this book is to combat dead orthodoxy. Dead orthodoxy is a real problem in Reformed churches that celebrate the primacy of…
At the church I pastor, we have four servers who distribute the communion elements to the congregation, and I distribute the elements to those in the foyer and nursery. The servers and I do not partake of the bread and wine until the congregation is served first. As this has…
We at Trinity House believe that the church ought to raise and train her future pastors. Part of that training may be carried out by specialized institutions like Trinity House, but the church and her leaders are ultimately responsible for that training. To encourage churches to assume that responsibility, Trinity…
Sandra Jacobs's The Body as Property examines the role of physical disfigurement in the Hebrew Bible, with focus on the Torah, and more specifically on the (fictitious) Priestly document, P. After an introduction laying out a rationale for the comparative method that guides her research, she explores circumcision, the use…
Yahweh saves. That’s what Isaiah’s name means, and that’s what Isaiah’s prophecy is about. Yah saves Judah when Aram and Israel pressure her. He saves Jerusalem from the Assyrian siege. He brings Judah back from the grave of Babylonian exile. But this triumphant message of Isaiah fizzles. The last few…
Are apostasy and assurance mutually exclusive? Some seem to think so. But let’s consider this a bit: No Reformed man would ever say that a man who is “saved” today will be safe forever no matter what . Rather we say, “your sins are forgiven, now, walk faithfully, glorify the…
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Since I subscribe to a variety of magazines and journals, I get a wildly diverse range of junk mail. Some assume I’m Catholic, others than I’m Jewish, some that I’m a Democrat, others that I’m a Republican or Libertarian or have signed on with the Constitution Party. One of the…
Raising Priests and Kings, Deuteronomy 6:1-25 INTRODUCTION We have been applying the sequence of priest, king, and prophet to Israel?s history and to our own biographies. God raises us to maturity by leading us through a period of service and a period of rule into an eldership where we guide…
Here is an address I gave at NSA graduation, May 12, 2004. Graduating Seniors, Parents, Friends of the College, Colleagues: It is a great privilege to address you all this evening, especially the graduating seniors. I am more grateful than I can express that I have had the privilege of…
As a student, Erin Linton, pointed out to me, Herod and Pilate are typical pagan enemies: Their enmity is skin deep, and liable to change to alliance and friendship when it is to their advantage. When faced with a scapegoat, the mimetic rivals become friends. (Just so, the windy plains…
The Brothers Karamazov , like many of Dostoevsky’s works, is partly an attack on Western rationalism. For Dostoevsky, this rationalism is manifested in the insistent question, Why? Why should a father love a son, or vice versa? Dostoevsky’s answer is partly taken from the story of Job: Why should Job…
One possible defense of the iconodule position is to draw an analogy between the use of icons in worship and the use of words in worship. The argument would be basically: 1. Venerating the word “YHWH” is superstitious. 2. But we do worship “through” the word “YHWH.” 3. Similarly, venerating…
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