Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
One of the curiosities of the New Testament revelation is its focus on Galilee. The region of Galilee was given to Asher, Zebulun, Naphtali, and Issachar, and the events of Judges 4-8 occurred there, so it had some importance in Israelite history. But when the tribe of Ephraim led the…
Numbers 3:40-51 tells us that the Levites were substituted for the firstborn of Israel. The firstborn belonged to God, as stated in Exodus 13:12-13 and 22:29. It is clear that the first group of firstborn claimed by God were those He saved at the first Passover (Ex. 12). These should…
I have lived and worked in Presbyterian circles since I became convinced of the Reformed faith over twenty years ago. Thus, it is easiest and most appropriate for me to issue criticisms and to call for reformation in the Presbyterian churches. Both Scripture and my own experience, and my observation…
And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory...(John 1:14) Commentaries on John, discussing the Word or Logos in John 1, routinely turn to Greek philosophy and say that John is using a term and at least part of an idea familiar in the ancient…
John Wenham’s Redating Matthew, Mark & Luke: A Fresh Assault on the Synoptic Problem 1 is an impressively detailed treatment of the "synoptic problem." I lack both the patience and the knowledge to evaluate Wenham’s contribution to that vexing question. My purpose instead is to summarize his conclusions concerning the…
Commentators do not agree on the contents of the Book of Seven Seals (Revelation 5:1). Some see it as the New Covenant; others as the whole Word of God; others as the book of life; and others as the record of the Old Creation that is now being brought to…
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In a recent discussion of penal substitution in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society , Garry Williams responds to the criticism that penal theories of the atonement are un-Trinitarian because they make the Son an object to the Father. Williams stresses that Jesus is a “subject of the atonement,”…
Pannenberg’s treatment of the atonement in Jesus - God and Man is one of the best short discussions of the subject available. Unlike most classical atonement theologies, Pannenberg’s integrates the whole gospel story and the resurrection into his account of the meaning of the atonement. One of the best parts…
White Christmas (1954) has been part of family Christmases for as long as I can remember. Bing Crosby’s voice is wonderful, but his middle-age-man-playing-hip hasn’t worn well over the years. Danny Kaye’s cracked-voice nervousness, his silly humor, and his surprisingly skillful dancing still work. Like all musicals, the film is…
Jack Miles a rambling, erudite, sometimes-insightful, half-hearted defense of religious faith to cultured despisers in the Atlantic . He found that as he matured, his youthful enthusiasm for Bertrand Russell and Camus waned. Turns out that science doesn’t overcome human ignorance like Russell thought it would: “with every increase in…
Frances Young argues in her Use of Sacrificial Ideas in Greek Christian Writers that the cross is primarily expiatory: It is God’s way of dealing with sin. It is not propitiatory in the ancient Greek sense of placating an angry God. How could it be, she asks, since the cross…
Frances Young ( Use of Sacrificial Ideas in Greek Christian Writers ) has a very rich account of Origen’s understanding of the atonement. Recent critics of sacrificial violence have nothing on Origen. Reflecting on the story of Jephthah’s daughter, he wrote that “the Being must be a very cruel one…
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