Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Optimism is “an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome.” 1 On the other hand, pessimism is “an inclination to emphasize adverse aspects, conditions, and possibilities or to expect the worst possible outcome.” We can see that optimism and…
If we wish to understand the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, we must begin with seeing them as a part of the creational order. Trees, along with plants and seed-bearing things, come to life by the word of God as part of…
“I chant slips and irreversible disasters, wiltings, failures, scars, the little disappointments and the large, blue streaks down a world that wishes it was only suncolors.” Paul J. Pastor from Kintsugi Song I recently lost something very valuable. Something I’d had for years and used every day. But, it wasn’t…
In his eponymous book, Jonah follows an exodus pattern. He travels through the waves and east of the city into the wilderness. On a first reading, it looks like another use of this common literary shape in the Old Testament: salvation through the waters of death and the wilderness of…
“Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” The unknowing master of ceremonies didn’t know how right he was. We see this play out in John’s apocalypse. The end is like the beginning,…
Read in isolation, The Test of Adultery (Num 5:11-31) presents the reader with a seemingly bizarre ritual, conjuring up ideas bordering on the Salem Witch Trials. Beyond this, pressing questions linger—such as, “Why is the woman in particular singled out, while no test is provided for the husband of a…
Showing page 23 of 309
Showing page 42 of 43
R ay Oldenburg’s The Great Good Place is a brief for the “third place,” a place that is neither home nor workplace, a public place that isn’t political, the cafe, tavern, coffee shop or diner where everyone knows your name. “Third place” designates “a great variety of public places that…
T homas Friedman announced over a decade ago that The World Is Flat . It’s gotten flatter since. Friedman focused on how technology had dismantled hierarchies in politics, business, production, and distribution. More recently, Gillian Hadfield argues, “ Digitization on a global scale converts objects and actions and ideas into…
The genealogy of the Levites (ch. 6) is at the center of the genealogical section of 1 Chronicles (chs. 1–9). It’s a long and complexly organized passage. In general, it divides into two sections: The genealogies of the priests and Levites (vv. 1–53) and the cities assigned to priests and…
T he Psalm recorded in 1 Chronicles 16 (Psalm 105) exhorts the singers to “remember forever His covenant, the Word He commanded to a thousand generations” (v. 15). The covenant with Abraham and Isaac, confirmed to Jacob and Israel, has to do with the land: “To you I will give…
R omans 10:9–10 is arranged in a straightforward chiasm: A. If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord B. and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, C. You shall be saved. B'. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness A'. and with the…
W alter Brueggemann sums up the Bible’s perspective on Money and Possessions in six propositions: Money is a gift from God. Wealth is a reward for obedience. Possessions belong to God and are held in trust. Money can be a source of social injustice. Possessions are to be used and…
Showing page 249 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
