Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
After 9 chapters of genealogy, the Chronicler begins his history with the death of Saul and the rise of David. The latter part of 1 Chronicles 12 describes the assembly of warriors from the twelve tribes to Hebron to celebrate David’s coronation as king. They have a three-day feast, with…
In the introduction we saw that Matthew and Luke are the only gospels which include “fire” in John the Baptist's narrative. If Matthew and Luke are the priestly and prophetic gospels, the inclusion of fire is of great importance. Priests are servants of the altar, working with fire every day.…
The feet of the great statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream cannot be interpreted as a prediction of the states of modern Europe, but the lessons from their failure can certainly be applied . The statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream spoke of God’s ordaining of four empires which would rule in succession throughout…
This past Sunday afternoon, I drove just a few miles west of my neighborhood to visit the corner of Sherman Blvd. and Burleigh St. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Amid a crowd I stood, looking at a huge gas station and multiple vehicles, all completely destroyed. Hundreds of feet of yellow caution…
1 Chronicles 12 is a flashback. The Chronicler has told the story of Saul’s death at the battle of Mount Gilboa. He has described how “all Israel” gathered to David at Hebron to make him king over all Israel (11:1-3). At the beginning of chapter 12, we move back to…
A great story draws you into specific details while delivering an ending that keeps you coming back. It brings you into the minutiae of life in such a way that requires patience, only to deliver a breath of fresh air time and again. The climax of the biblical story comes…
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J ohn Bale, bishop of Ossory from 1495 to 1563, was a polemicist and historian, author of the first known verse drama in English, and commentator on the Apocalypse. The latter is titled An Image of Both Churches , an examination of the true and false churches in the book…
H ippolytus doesn’t convince with his interpretation of prophecy in On Christ and AntiChrist , but along the way he offers some lovely meditations on the cross and the church. The cross, He says, is the weaver’s loom on which Jesus makes His bridegroom robes: “whereas the Word of God…
I n a 2005 interview with the Paris Review , Australian poet Les Murray describes his family’s religious background, and the reasons for his conversion to Catholicism: The Murrays were old-style Free Kirk Presbyterians. They ranged from devout to indifferent, but most had at least a touch of that Calvinist…
T. A. Noble ( Holy Trinity, Holy People , 7) says this about the role of the Bible in theology in a discussion of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral (which, he rightly says, isn’t just Wesleyan): It is not the task of theology merely to expound and elaborate and refine the church’s…
I t’s been a metaphysical dogma for philosophers from Scholastics to Cartesians that an effect cannot be greater than its cause. John Milbank begs to differ. Writing in defense of the historicity of the Gospels’ account of the crucifixion ( Being Reconciled , 84), Milbank points out that “well-attested and…
In a brilliant 2013 article in Communio , D.C. Schindler examines the “totalitarian logic of self-limitation” within liberal order. He argues that any actual common good must precede a particular person's share in the good; the whole precedes sharing by the parts. A ruse appears at the heart of liberal…
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