Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Where do we go from here? Depending on one’s perspective, the American story can plausibly be interpreted in different ways. Looked at from past to present , we can see a great deal of continuity from medieval Christendom and the Reformation to America’s founding. The War for Independence, after all,…
Click HERE for Part 1 Civic Religion: American or Christian? We have already traced out the basic contours of the shift in America from an ecclesiocentric, theocratic social order to a secular one. Building on Locke and Hobbes, the Enlightenment accomplished an astonishing coup of Christendom. That victory for the…
Author’s Introductory Note: Engaging in broad historical interpretation as I am about to do is always risky. Necessarily, one “stylizes” history by simplifying, over generalizing, and stereotyping. But the narrative qualities of history are not simply due to the imposition of human rationality upon brute facts; rather history is always…
A. Repentance to life involves endeavoring to believe real hard that you’re saved. reject infant baptism. stop watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. walk with God in all the ways of his commandments. B. What is necessary so that no sinner may expect to be forgiven unless he does it? Only…
The machine works mechanically and it is flawless. Slander/libel a group of Presbyterian ministers as “Romanist” because robes and James 2 are no worse than praying to Mary or relying on purgatory to pay for unconfessed sins. Drive off anyone who disagrees. Of that number, there may be a tiny…
If we take as a starting point the Tribal / Monarchical / Empire model, we can then add to it the Late Empire Phase. The particular ‘marker sin’ of Empire is false intermarriage, which signifies pluralism and syncretism. Empires by definition are “cosmopolitan” dominated by cities, high culture, many cultures,…
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God rests from his labor because He has completed it ( kalah , used in Genesis 2:1-2). He rests because there’s no more to do. Yahweh’s rest is satisfaction in work done, work that He pronounces “very good.” The rest God enters isn’t simply cessation, but satisfaction, happiness, completion. Reformed…
Andrew Kuiper offers a superb, exhilarating summary of Sergei Bulgakov’s Philosophy of Economy . Kuiper begins by summarizing Bulgakov’s case against “economism,” the assumption shared by free marketeers and Marxists that human beings are motivated above all by economic drives. For both, man is homo economicus . Bulgakov had read…
The description of the rite of the ascension offering for herd-animals (Leviticus 1:3-9) includes twelve verbs that describe distinct actions. Verse 3 uses the verb qarav (come near; bring near in hiphil) twice, but these two uses describe the same action, namely, bringing an animal near to the tent for…
Terry Eagleton's sharp critique of Rene Girard ( Radical Sacrifice , 54-58) is worth a look, especially for those (like me) who appreciate Girard. For starters, Eagleton points to the discrepancy between Girard and "the clear endorsement of sacrifice to be found in Hebrews." In fact, Girard "issues a stern…
My recommendation to theologians: Be un-professional. That, I suspect, requires some clarification. I don’t mean, “Be sloppy” or “Be rude” or “Be vulgar.” I mean that theologians must resist the deadening pressures of professionalization. Jeff Schmidt’s Disciplined Minds examines these pressures, and the conformists that these pressures produce. Professionalization rewards…
In his recent collection of Essays, Slouching Toward Utopia , George Schialabba summarizes the work of Ivan Illich, including Illich's 1971 book, Deschooling Society . With that book, Illich entered a debate about the state of American schools, most of which centered on the disparity of resources between rich and…
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