Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Hebrews 10:34 There is an old Puritan dictum that goes, “Sit lightly on the world.” George MacDonald places it…
As Genesis unfolds, God chooses a line of promise out of the nations. One by one its offshoots are peeled away as the story zooms in on God’s chosen people, Israel. First, the line of Cain is peeled away as Cain is sent out from the presence of YHWH. Though…
The following article was an address given to Anselm Presbytery (CREC) in the Fall 2024. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray with me. Father of Heavenly Lights and fount of all Wisdom, guide us we pray, by your Word and Spirit,…
At my age, I’ve given up on the fantasy of “keeping up.” Much of my reading is now narrowly focused, research-reading in service of writing projects. If you want bibliography on the ontology of artifacts in Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas (which you don’t), or the purity laws of Leviticus, or…
I have been reading, thinking, and writing about the Internet and its effects upon our identities, communities, polities, and discourses for nearly a copy of decades. In that time, I have encountered no book as perceptive on the subject as Antón Barba-Kay’s A Web of Our Own Making: The Nature…
Identifying the men Paul refers to as “enemies of the cross” in Philippians 3:18 turns out to be relatively difficult. Peter O’Brian speaks of “all kinds of suggestions regarding their identity,” and offers a list of interpretations: “moral libertinists, behavioural materialists, orthodox Jews, lapsed or apostate Christians—because of persecution, Jewish…
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When we argue with Arians, our main focus is on the deity of the Son. Arians and their modern heirs reject the Nicene Creed, which was written in response to Arianism, and which claimed that the Son was “God from God, Light from Light, Very God from Very God.” Such…
The tabernacle menorah is made of pure gold, hammered, apparently one piece with base, shaft, and the adornments of the shaft (Exodus 25:31). It’s one of two pure gold items in the tent, the other being the cover of the ark of the covenant, with its cherubim (Exodus 25:17-18). All…
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” we say at funerals. Why? Dust makes sense. Human beings are dust animated by the breath of God (Gen. 2:7). Since Adam’s fall, we return to the ground: “you will return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; dust you are,…
The instructions for the table of showbread (Exodus 25:23-30) occur in the "third day" section of Exodus 25-30. On "Day 1," Yahweh assembles the materials for building the tabernacle (Exodus 25:1-9). On "Day 2," he prescribes the pattern for the ark of the covenant, a "firmament" that separates and joins…
The ark of the covenant consists of two detachable parts. The lower portion is an acacia wood box, a rectangular chest 2.5 cubits by 1.5 cubits by 1.5 cubits (Exodus 25:10). The wood is overlaid, inside and out, with pure gold (Exodus 25:11). The other part is a pure gold…
Yahweh's initial instruction for the construction of the tabernacle is "take for me a contribution ( terumah ) . . . take a contribution" (Exodus 25:2). Derived from the verb rum , "lift up," terumah has often been translated as "heave offering," which implies that the offering is lifted toward…
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