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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Jesus said, Go therefore and disciple all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I’ve commanded. One of the great sins of Manasseh was an assault on the “Name” of Yahweh. Back…
Easter is about faith and hope. Easter is also about love. The Old Covenant was a covenant of separations. Yahweh separated Himself from His people, enclosed behind a series of veils in inapproachable splendor. Yahweh called Abraham and separated him from the other nations of the earth, and gave Israel…
Manasseh filled Jerusalem with the blood of the innocent; in context, the blood appears to be the blood of prophets (2 Ki 21:10-16). This is one of the continuing charges against Manasseh after Josiah’s reign is over (24:3-4). The blood of the prophets (or, at least, of the innocent) calls…
“Manasseh” is derived from a causative form of the verb “forget” - hence, cause to forget. Manasseh causes Judah to forget by liturgical change - rebuilding high places, erecting altars and Asherahs, and so on. Memory is nourished by liturgy; forgetfulness by liturgical perversion.
Stephen Charnock argues that salvation must be supernatural because nature is insufficient for the task: “A change from acts of sin to moral duties may be done by a natural strength and the power of natural conscience: for the very same motives which led to sin, as education, interest, profit,…
Roger Haight offers this summary of the notion of “supernatural”: “God is not supernatural in himself; he is simply the infinite and transcendent being; he is God. But viewed in relation to the human he is supernatural; that is to say, spiritual union with God transcends human nature and all…
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