Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
I have never heard anyone say that the Bible is impractical, but I have heard people, after an in depth exegesis of a passage, ask for the practical application. Offer a class on childrearing, marriage, finance and the church members flock to it; offer a course on Leviticus, the visions…
Stones External and Internal The modern practice of dismantling the Bible into a shambles of documents authored in response to disparate historical events rather than viewing it as a unified testimony inspired by God is a surefire way to miss what is actually going on in the text. This failure…
King Asa of Judah made a strong start, purging the land of idols, altars, and images, and winning a war against the ginormous Cushite army led by Zerach. It all unraveled in his final years. From his thirty-fifth year to the forty-first year, when his reign came to an end,…
What appears to be Paul’s first recorded statement on justification comes in Acts 13, in a sermon at Pisidian Antioch. It's can serve as a summary of Paul's letter to the Romans, and throws some important light on the themes of that letter. Paul begins his sermon with a quick…
Iago as Tempter The answer to our first question — whether or not Othello is really great tragedy — has already pointed the way to the answer for the second question — Was Othello a noble Moor or a fool? The two questions, of course, are necessarily related. The fall…
When Adam McIntosh was ordained as Pastor of Saint David’s Church (CREC) in Houston on June 11, 2017, it was the culmination of decades of preparation. Adam is the product of two continents and three Christian traditions. Born in Paducah, Kentucky, he lived his early years partly in Jericho, where…
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Bacevich is scathing regarding the national security apparatus: The “national security state” continues, he says, “because, by its very existence, it provides a continuing rationale for political arrangements that are a source of status, influence, and considerable wealth. Lapses in performance by this apparatus might logically raise questions about whether…
Hezekiah and Josiah celebrate large-scale Passovers. Why? What are they being delivered from? In both cases, Passover is preceded by massive destruction of idols and idolatrous shrines. First, the humiliation of the “gods of Egypt” and then the Passover. And that throws light back on the original Passover, which is…
Bacevich again: “The institution nominally referred to as the Department of Defense didn’t actually do defense; it specialized in power projection. In 2001, the Pentagon was prepared for any number of contingencies in the Balkans or Northeast Asia or the Persian Gulf. It was just not prepared to address threats…
Bacevich notes the remarkable co-dependence of Curtis LeMay and Betty Friedan: “Postwar foreign policy derived its legitimacy from a widely shared perception that power was being exercised abroad to facilitate the creation of a more perfect union at home. In this sense, General Curtis LeMay’s nuclear strike force, the Strategic…
Bacevich’s latest ( The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism (American Empire Project) compellingly examines the links between American foreign policy and the “domestic dysfunction” that he finds in the United States itself. To preserve our profligate way of life, we embark on ever more ambitious foreign adventures.…
Bacevich argues that World War IV (the Cold War counts as #3) began in 1980, with Carter’s declaration that America would protect its vital interests in the Persian Gulf. While Reagan’s presidency was publicly focused on the Cold War, World War IV was already underway, with American interventions in Lebanon,…
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