Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Midwives are rarely mentioned in Scripture, but play a prominent role in the first chapter of Exodus. The word midwife is used seven times in verses 15-22, though it is used only twice elsewhere in the Old Testament. The reason, I think, is not merely that the midwives were heroic…
Leviathan (41:1-11) is the climax of the theophany, the culmination of the Lord’s speech. His final answer to Job’s injudicious charges against God’s justice. After hearing God rehearse the characteristics of Leviathan and His absolute power over him, Job instantly repents in dust and ashes. He confesses, "I know now…
Our purpose in this study is to lay out the chronology and history of the Kingdom of Judah from the reign of King Josiah to the completion of the exile of the Jews under Nebuchadnezzar, with particular attention to the events recorded in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The Empire of Assyria…
Protestants have always insisted that the sacraments bring no benefit without a response of faith, but this seems to undermine infant baptism, since infants do not appear to be able to exercise faith. Luther and Calvin held together their insistence on faith with infant baptism by claiming that infants can…
Traditional Presbyterian theologians regularly cite 1 Corinthians 11:28 as an argument against the practice of paedocommunion. Children must be able “to examine themselves” before they come to the table. Supposedly this text demands a certain level of intellectual capability as well as the capacity to engage in self-conscious introspection, both…
Yahweh’s two speeches at the end of the book of Job (38-41) should bring some closure to the book. The prologue has the whole cosmic order arrayed against the blameless and upright Job, "a man who feared God and shunned evil" (1:1, 8; 2:3). Yahweh’s capstone speeches affirm God’s absolute…
Showing page 263 of 309
Showing page 43 of 43
Random and inconclusive notes on 2 Kings 4:8ff. 1) The woman at Shunem has a husband, in contrast to the woman at the beginning of the story who was a widow. Both, though, need Elisha as a ?father?Ewho will give birth to/save their children. 2) The Shunammite speaks of Elisha…
The story of the widow and her sons moves from death to life: the dead man of verse 1 is exchanged for the ?live on the remainder?Ein verse 7. The story is also a Passover: Children are saved from slavery, and they are saved by being locked into a house…
Since I posted a lengthy summary of David Hart’s sharp critique of Robert Jenson, it’s only fair to note that Jenson disputes Hart’s account of his theology. In a review in Pro Ecclesia, Jenson claims that Hart “seriously misrepresents me,” though he adds that they have “anyway come to a…
Aquinas de malo, Question 3, article 1: Does God cause sin? One can be a ?cause of sin?Ein two ways, first by sinning and second by causing another to sin. God does not cause sin in either sense. Regarding the first: Thomas describes sin as a failure to attain an…
My favorite line from Eudora Welty’s short story, “Why I live at the P.O.”: “Papa-Daddy’s Mama’s papa and sulks.”
The London Times Online reported on May 29 on a new proposal regarding gay clergy in the Church of England: “Homosexual priests in the Church of England will be allowed to ‘marry’ their boyfriends under a proposal drawn up by senior bishops, led by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.…
Showing page 1973 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
