Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
There is no question about the fact that the book of Deuteronomy is full of literary allusion. But there is a serious problem, even a paradox, of understanding how that allusion works. To begin with, if we assume that Deuteronomy was written by Moses — with some editorial emendations added…
Genesis and Genetics in Blade Runner 2049 The power of science fiction, and what’s positive about it, is that you’re able to experience the worst-case scenario without actually having to live it. (Actor Ryan Gosling, who plays Officer “K”) (Warning: The following analysis contains spoilers for both Blade Runner films.)…
The battle of Gog and Magog is found in Ezekiel 38-39. My purpose in this brief essay is to propound an explanation for this passage that I have not encountered in any of my commentaries, but that makes more sense to me than any other. I offer it here in…
I. Varlam Shalamov in Kolyma Tales describes his experience of the Gulag, where he spent more than a dozen of years. In a story titled The Life of Engineer Kipreev Shalamov reflects on the theme of hope in the life of a prisoner: “Hope always shackles the convict. Hope is…
Genesis 14:14 says that Abram mustered his trained men, “born in his house,” to rescue Lot, and gives their number as 318. It is clear that the precise number is provided for some reason, but what is it? S. Gevirtz notes that 318 is the sum of all the prime…
And he said to me, "What do you see?" And I answered, "I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits" (Zechariah 5:2). Immediately following his vision of the outpouring of the Spirit upon the restoration community (4:1-14), Zechariah saw a flying scroll. The…
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Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, He ascended into heaven to take His place at the right hand of the Father (Acts 1:3), fulfilling the promise of Psalm 110. The Psalm is patterned as three sets of seven clauses. Verses 1-2 make up the first sequence, verses 3-4…
In his 2007 encyclical on hope, Spe Salvi , Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI observes that the experience of loving and being loved is a moment of “redemption.” Love gives new meaning, new joy, new energy. Every love is a new birth. We long and hope for love. We want it…
Oliver O’Donovan ( Ways of Judgment , 26-7) cites Hegel’s claim that every wrong is “infinite” and so “demands infinite judgment.” He takes this to mean that “the victim demands that the wrong should become the whole business of the universe.” The victim thinks he can “command the world” if…
Moses informs the congregation of Israel about what’s needed for the tabernacle (Exodus 35:4-19), and the congregation goes off to finds things to contribute (Exodus 35:20). Yahweh speaks to Moses, and Moses acts, bringing the word of Yahweh to fulfillment. Now Moses speaks the word of Yahweh to the people,…
When Moses demands that Pharaoh let Yahweh’s people go into the wilderness to celebrate a feast, Pharaoh calls for his magicians, sorcery, and wise men (7:11; wise men is chakamiym ). Moses defeats those wise men, and the motif of wisdom goes subterranean for twenty-odd chapters. When it re-emerges, the…
An Easter homily from 2009 . Why do you seek the living among the dead? That was the angel’s question to the women who came to the tomb on the day of Jesus’ resurrection. Instead of finding Jesus, they found an empty tomb with the stone rolled away. Confused and…
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