Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In our first essay we looked at Kline’s flawed exegesis of Genesis 2:5 as it relates to Day 3 of creation. Now we turn to Kline’s new argument against a chronological reading of Genesis 1, as found, again, in "Space and Time in the Genesis Cosmogony," Perspectives on Science and…
One of the advantages of paying very close attention to the details in the Bible, especially chronological and genealogical details, is that they can shed light on situations that don’t seem to make much sense apart from them. One such situation is that of Bathsheba. It appears that Bathsheba willingly…
Once upon a time, Jeff Meyers and Tony Rollins–old friends who had not seen each other for a few years–met in the parking lot of a neighborhood church. They were dropping off their pre-school children at the church for Mother’s Day Out. They were such conscientious and helpful fathers. As…
Years ago, when I was at the briefly-existing Geneva Divinity School, I taught a course in the Apocrypha. One thing that struck me at that time is that two of the stories are almost certainly religious allegories (as well as moral tales): Judith and Susanna. Since "Susanna" means "Lily," this…
Peter’s essay inspires me to write up some similar thoughts about the flower of the field. Rightly does Peter associate the almond with Yahweh’s garden, because the Garden of Eden is symbolically positioned as parallel to the Holy Place of the Tabernacle and Temple. To wit: Since Aaron’s rod blossomed…
We have had occasion to discuss the views of Meredith G. Kline previously in these newsletters, and now it is time to do so again. Kline teaches at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and also at the Westminster Theological Seminaries (Philadelphia and San Diego). He is the author of some interesting insights…
Showing page 259 of 309
Showing page 40 of 43
When Jesus instituted the Supper, He told His disciples to continue to ?do this?Eas a memorial of Him. The ?this?Eis not only the eating and drinking, but the whole ritual, which includes the moment when the bread is broken. In making this part of the rite, Jesus was linking the…
Our confession that we believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, is foundational to everything in Christian faith, but it is a serious error to limit God?s creativity to the original act of creation. Such a view is implicitly Deist: Deists think that God created the…
Obsession with sacraments and liturgy seems ?catholic?Eto many in our day, but it will not be news to anyone who has read and absorbed Schaff ?s Principle of Protestantism that these concerns were near the heart of the Reformation. Over a century ago, Schaff had grasped that the Reformation was…
David Noel Freedman ‘s book, The Unity of the Hebrew Bible contains a number of fascinating and compelling suggestions about the structure of the OT. 1) He suggests that the Hebrew Bible can be neatly divided into 4 sections of almost equal length: Torah, 5 books, 80,000 words Former prophets,…
NT Wright gives a characteristically stimulating overview of Rom 5-8 as a retelling of the exodus narrative. Here are some of the key elements of his interpretation: 1) He begins with the observation that Rom 8 describes the church’s future inheritance of the cosmos. The cosmos will be transformed at…
As many commentators have suggested (Douglas Moo most clearly), there is an inclusio around Romans 5-8 that shows it is a distinct unit. Below are some of the key words shared between 5:1-11 and 8:14-39, with some comments: 1) DIKAIOO: “justify”: 5:1, 9; 6:7; 8:30, 33: This verb, prominent in…
Showing page 2099 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
