Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Can it be that it has been two whole years since I contributed a Theopolis Post! I had been pursuing the topic of integration: “Seeking Integration in a Fragmented World.” I had defined “integration,” simply, as creative putting together. I had posed that seeking it calls for a fundamentally integrative…
What is known as the miracle of the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” occurs in Mark’s Gospel in chapter 6. As with other gospel writers, Mark has a few different points to make as he moves through this story (included in all four gospel accounts) and its surrounding material. Three…
To begin with the source of this narrative: Since no human being was present to observe these events, we must assume that this narrative was revealed directly by God to a human author. There are three ways this might have happened. First, we might read, "God said to Abraham (or…
The serious Bible student cannot help but be struck by the deviousness of Jacob in Genesis 27. If one already expected some underhanded dealings from this twin-born-second whose name means “supplanter” and whose bargaining with his brother for the birthright in Genesis 25 seemed incredibly weighted in his own favor,…
From Barna stats to mainstream headlines, it seems as though the discordant nature of this last year has taken such a toll on churches in the United States that, for many, the injuries have been fatal. It has become a regular occurrence to hear about a congregation that continues to…
In The Bad News Bears (1976), a city councilman hires a washed-up minor league baseball player with a drinking problem to coach a little league team of leftover misfits. Underdog sports movies are usually full of sentimentalism and dramatic victories, but this film is a commentary on the failing dream…
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INTRODUCTION In Daniel 11, a Gentile ruler (Antiochus IV Epiphanes) allied with apostate Jews to defile the temple and persecute faithful Jews. The same thing happens in the first century A.D.: The sea beast ( Rome ) and the land beast (Judaism) band together to drink the blood of the…
Picking up on James Jordan’s treatment of this theme. In Matthew 24, Jesus speaks about a specific “abomination of desolation,” the one spoken of by Daniel. The passage He cites is from Daniel 11:31: “ For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return…
INTRODUCTION The great signal that the city is about to fall is the “abomination of desolation,” prophesied by Daniel (v. 15). When that occurs, the “great tribulation” has come (v. 21). THE TEXT “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the…
Matthew 24:3: Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives , the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age? The prophecy of Matthew 24-25 is frequently described…
For the next several weeks, I will be picking up where I left off in Matthew, in chapter 24, the “Olivet Discourse.” I will take the position that Jesus’ prophecy is not about the end of the world or His final coming, but about the destruction of the Old Covenant…
Scattered, inconclusive remarks on the prohibition of brother-sister incest in Leviticus 18 and 20. A number of the relations prohibited in these chatpers recall relationships that existed among the patriarchs. Leviticus 18:11 prohibits a man from taking his half-sister, the daughter of your father. That is exactly the relationship of…
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