Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Summary In what follows, I will consider the “year-stamps” employed in Scripture, i.e., statements of the form, “Such-and-such an event took place in the Xth year of Y.” In the process, I will suggest some ways in which the Biblical narrative might relate to events in the extra-Biblical world, though…
In the first essay on the parable of the Prodigal Son, I suggested that the problems commentators and others encounter in interpreting Jesus three-part parable are not accidental. These are not just problems in our ignorance of cultural background. They are intentional features of the stories —stories designed to poke…
The story of the Prodigal Son is perhaps the most well-known story in the Bible. As others have observed, it may also be one of the most misunderstood. In two short essays, I will point out features of this story that are commonly neglected, aspects of Jesus’ parable that might…
The parable of Lazarus and the nameless rich man is not an independent story. It is part of a long context that begins in Luke 15:1, where Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners and the scribes and Pharisees grumble. In response to their hardheartedness, Jesus tells a three-part…
The Bible is written so that even when a reader cannot pick up on what might be deeper or more detailed aspects of a text, there is virtually always a message to be heard. In the ancient world, where the “reader” of Scripture would likely be a church official facing…
The distinction between garden (or vineyard) and field begins in Genesis 2. This relates to the ordering of the formless world. Plants of the field are contrasted with the garden planted by God in Genesis 2:5&8. Later on, under the Old Covenant the Israelites will be required to keep their…
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Rupert Sheldrake’s latest book, The Sense of Being Stared At , is full of amusing and entertaining oddities, as Sheldrake continues his assault on reductionistic modern science. At the outset of a treatment of “paranormal” phenomena, Sheldrake points out that such things as telepathy are “para-normal” only if we have…
The incarnation is no contradiction of God’s transcendence or sovereignty. Never think of Christmas, the incarnation, in any way as a qualification of God’s sovereignty, His Lordship. We shouldn’t say: Yes, God is sovereign Lord, who does as He pleases; but He is ALSO, in ADDITION, the God who has…
The incarnation is no contradiction of God’s transcendence or sovereignty. Never think of Christmas, the incarnation, in any way as a qualification of God’s sovereignty, His Lordship. We shouldn’t say: Yes, God is sovereign Lord, who does as He pleases; but He is ALSO, in ADDITION, the God who has…
Eucharistic Meditation for Second Sunday in Advent: Luke 22:20 Martin Luther said that the Supper is the gospel. That’s true in a lot of different ways, but one way that it is true is that in the Supper we see and experience the reality of “God for us.” That’s what…
Exhortation for December 7: Christmas is a few weeks away, and that means food, lots of food, lots of rich food. It means candy and candy canes and nuts and chocolate and more chocolate, always chocolate. It means parties and feasts, and then more parties and feasts. It means drinking…
Picking up on thoughts on Romans 2, some additional reflections on Advent, and reading further in Church Dogmatics 2.2: Here is the gospel of election, of the decree, that Jesus Christ was, from all eternity, elected and chosen as the true Israel of God, to ensure that God’s name would…
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