Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Place names become fraught with meaning by association with people and events. The name “Wittenberg” calls to mind Luther and the Reformation for Protestants and Catholics alike. Geneva has a wider range of associations, but the Reformation Wall, with its four main statues of William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza,…
“…a mystery without a solution, a horror story without savagery, a nightmare in which all the watches stop at noonday…” The Bestial Gardens of Men Then they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” (Luke 23:30) The following lines by Edgar Allan Poe,…
2 Samuel 11-12, which record David’s sin with Bathsheba and its aftermath, is structured chiastically: This arrangement highlights several things about the episode. It reinforces what is obvious from even a casual reading, that the transition in the story occurs with Nathan’s confrontation of David’s sin and David’s confession. Up…
Medieval bestiaries are packed with quaintly inaccurate information about animals, birds, and other created things. Foxes and snakes are devilish critters; stags, pelicans and elephants are Christlike in their various ways. Of course, the medievals picked this up from the Bible, where bestiary observations are fairly common. “Go to the…
What do Reformational Catholicism and craft beer have in common? The question seems to beg for a punchline. Better yet, it would be pretty good clickbait for an article on Katharina von Bora’s “spirited” contribution that helped spark the Protestant Reformation. Well, this is no joke and I am certainly…
Suffering Defined Suffering happens. We witness it all around us and experience it in our lives. It often comes from forces beyond our control. Suffering is inscrutable; it strikes unexpectedly, on a bright summer day or a cold winter night. We lament and are bewildered by suffering. But we are…
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In an illuminating review in TLS (June 2), Felipe Fernandez-Armesto summarizes the evidence that the Spanish Civil War was, as it turns out, thoroughly Spanish. He debunks the myth that Spain never participated in European cultural movements, pointing out that “liberal” is derived from a Spanish word, that Spain was…
The library of Dr Daniel Williams (Presbyterian minister, 1643-1716) in London is selling its copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio, and to mark the occasion Peter Lindenbaum examines not only the Folio but the library (TLS June 2). The Folio is not the only (modest) surprise in this library, whose original…
David Martin comments (TLS, June 16) on Maurice’s Bloch’s view that ritual crushes human creativity: “No doubt that is how the Jesuits (with their Spiritual Exercises) turned into such scientifically incurious stay-at-homes, how the Mormons built a city in the desert, and the Muslims created an empire stretching from Spain…
INTRODUCTION After Josiah, Judah unravels rapidly. Josiah’s son is imprisoned by Pharaoh Neco (23:33), and before long Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonians are invading, destroying the temple and the city (24:1). It is Good Friday for Israel. THE TEXT “Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned…
In the account of Josiah’s reform in 2 Kings 23, there is frequent reference to “defiling” (vv 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 14, 16, 20). Josiah defiles by scattering the ashes from a destroyed Asherah pole, by filling holy places with bones, by burning bones on altars. It’s not enough…
2 Kings 23:12: The altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of Yahweh, the king broke down; and he smashed them there, and threw their dust into the brook Kidron. Josiah was one of the great heroes of the faith, providing an example not only…
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