Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
After the identification of the recipients of his letter at the beginning of Revelation, John gives a benediction that resembles the benedictions of the Pauline letters. He pronounces grace/favor and peace, grace and favor that lead to peace, grace that leads to fullness and harmony that is the biblical definition…
Throughout the latter half of 1-2 Samuel, Saul and David are locked in hand-to-hand combat. It seems an unequal contest. All the heavy artillery is on Saul's side. To understand the full scope of the conflict, we need to back up to the beginning of the book. Prior to Saul's…
Last week, I lectured at Ostrog Academy in Ostrog, Ukraine, and at a pastors' conference in Kyiv. The latter was co-sponsored by Trinity House and the Alliance of Reformed Churches in Ukraine. I offer my impressions of Ukraine this morning at Firstthings.com .
Why do I bristle when I see someone with white wires hanging from his ears, flipping through what must be a million songs downloaded onto his iPod? No doubt, it’s the threat of the new. I've only recently begun carrying a cell phone, and now I hear tell of compact…
Judah is in terrible shape (Isaiah 57). Yahweh told Israel to worship Him only at the temple, but the people worship on every hill and under every green and leafy tree. He commanded them to worship Him alone, but they are devoted to many gods. Worshipers set up their beds…
Like any great writer, the Lord foreshadows late happenings in early happenings. Like many greater writers, the Lord ends where he begins, returning to a glorified Edenic city-sanctuary at the end of his cosmic story. The Lord writes with history, real people and events, not merely with words. But His…
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In various works, Rene Girard analyzes the "underground" of Dostoevsky, most elaborately presented in Notes from Underground . The underground is both a psychology and a metaphysics. The psychology arises from the dynamics of mimesis and rivalry that are Girard's key themes, which lead to alienation of frustrated resentment, ressentiment…
Alan Jacobs has recently ( How To Think ) used CS Lewis’s essay on the “Inner Ring” to explain what has happened to political discourse in the US. Lewis began his essay by citing a passage from Tolstoy, which revealed an informal hierarchy, an “inner ring,” within the overt organizational…
A brief overview of key elements of the thought of Rene Girard. Mimetic desire . Desire isn’t individual; it doesn’t emerge from isolated individuals. It’s mimetic. We desire what we see others desiring. This is the basis for the advertising industry; it’s obvious in any day care center, when children…
A brief, sketchy outline applying the quadriga to various topics of Leviticus . The quadriga. Fourfold sense: Literal, allegorical, tropological, anagogical. Examples: Jerusalem; David and Goliath. Strengths *Implies a Christology, an ecclesiology, an ethics, and an eschatology *Allegory and tropology. *Faith, hope, love built into hermeneutical. Quadrigizing the sanctuary. Literal…
With Saudi Arabia in the news following the murder of journalist Jamal Kashoggi, there's an opening for rethinking the US relation with Saudi. The following is an excerpt from my 2012 Between Babel and Beast . Numbers and details may be somewhat outdated, but the main points stand. In August…
Gotta love Mary Midgley. She died on October 10 of this year, a month after her 99th birthday. To the end, she did philosophy with a rare degree of common sense and wit. She begins The Myths We Live By , published when she was a mere octogenarian, by explaining…
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