Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
I revisited Athanasius’s On the Incarnation in light of Advent this year. A particular passage struck me with a question that I hadn’t considered before. When addressing Adam’s fall, Athanasius says this: “If then there were only the offense and not the consequence of corruption, repentance would have been fine.…
There is much wisdom for kings in the first letter of Paul to the Church in Corinth. As I am preaching through this letter, this is one of the major themes that stands out. That is the theme of the reign of the Christian as we live in union with…
1 The title should not be a surprise to anyone who believes the Bible to be true. According to the Bible, any and every faith and religion that does not conform to the Gospel of Christ are not only false, but ultimately inspired by false spirits. Though Jeffrey Niehaus is…
Names are weighty things, a fact repeatedly evidenced in the biblical narrative. There are several occasions when the names mothers or fathers chose for their children, and the reasons for which the names were chosen, are given extended attention in the text. Much of Genesis 29 and 30, for instance,…
Growing up, I was crestfallen about any Christmas that fell on Sunday. Christmas on Sunday meant going to church when I’d rather lollygag around the Christmas tree in my pajamas, playing with new toys. Christmas on Sunday was a drag. If I still felt that way, I know what I’d…
Growing up in the church in Southern America, there was an oft-used category for leaders in the church. It was a category which was used to justify a variety of rules and restrictions on church leaders. Leaders were to be “above reproach” and that meant not drinking in public or…
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John the Baptist is like a sacrificial victim, a Passover lamb, innocently slaughtered (Matthew 14). In the next periscope, Jesus performs a food miracle, the first such miracle in Matthew. It is a Passover meal, as well as manna in the wilderness. Following the meal, Jesus’ disciples get into a…
Some observations on the final chapter of Chronicles (2 Chronicles 36). In the previous chapter, the Chronicler records the death of Josiah, which is effectively the end of the Davidic monarchy. Chapter 36 records the rapid disintegration of the kingdom, the brief reigns of his sons, the subjection of Judah…
R. R. Reno offers an incisive analysis of the "rage politics" surrounding the Kavanaugh confirmation. He suggests that it's class rage, focused on sex. That's not a surprise, since the sexual revolution is by far the most enduring legacy of the social revolution at the middle of the last century.…
The Chronicler's account of Josiah's reign is glowingly positive. He seeks Yahweh, purges idolatry from Jerusalem, Judah, and the temple, listens to the word of the Lord, leads a covenant renewal, and throw an unprecedented Passover celebration. But there's a subtle counter-melody running along behind the surface song of triumph.…
I expressed some disagreements and some commendations for Seth Postell's Adam as Israel a few days ago. Here I sum up some more of Postell's insights. 1) He takes the description of the serpent in 3:1 as a positive description: He is "more prudent" (Heb. 'arom ) than all the…
David devotes a great deal of attention to organizing Levitical singers (1 Chronicles 25) and gatekeepers (1 Chronicles 26). Solomon follows David's instructions in setting up these roles at the temple (singers, 2 Chronicles 5:12-23; 9:11; gatekeepers, 2 Chronicles 8:14). Remarkably, after Solomon, these officials virtually drop out of the…
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