Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
“We have a God who hides things because He loves to be sought out, chewed out and found out.” As Christians, we are rightly taught that we must not question God’s Word. The problem is that the Scriptures record many things which appear to have been given to us for…
The book of Revelation is a liturgy. John begins “in the Spirit” on the “Lord’s day” (1:10). Jesus appears, and Jesus tells him to record messages to seven churches, words of encouragement and rebuke, like the call to worship and confession at the beginning of a Christian liturgy. In chapter…
In my previous posts, I looked at the theme of creation as it is found in a sequence of psalms devoted to Yahweh’s Kingship (Psalms 93-100). Among other matters, these psalms declare that when the Kingdom of Israel’s God comes, it is the Kingdom of the world’s own Creator .…
The church in Corinth was a pastoral nightmare. Factionalism, sexual immorality, incipient syncretism, using the church as a stage for self-promotion, and denial of the final resurrection were just some of the problems. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church, he confronts each of these problems directly and in…
The first chapters of the Word of God have a poetic rhythm. This is used to discredit their accuracy as historical narrative, but the truth is that these same rhythms continue far beyond the book of Genesis. In fact, the later texts shed light on the frustratingly succinct account of…
Mr. Martian: What’s that there? Mr. Edison: (Edison holds up a standard, 60 watt lightbulb). It’s a lightbulb. Mr. Martian: A “lightbulb” you say? What exactly is a “lightbulb”? Mr. Edison: A lightbulb is an object used to illuminate a dark area, say a room. It’s made primarily of filament…
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In Richard West’s fascinating biography of Defoe, he claims that he was “the first master, if not the inventor, of almost every feature of modern newspapers, including the leading article, investigative reporting, the foreign news analysis, the agony aunt, the gossip column, the candid obituary, and even the kind of…
In one of his works, Daniel Defoe, a well-known non-Conformist, posed as an Anglican who was asked to defend kneeling at the communion by a Dissenter. Spying an altar piece of the Last Supper, the Dissenter asks, “how can your people prosecute us for refusing to kneel at the Sacrament?…
I want to examine Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress and Daniel Defoe in the context of the rise of the Western European novel. Some scholars suggest that novel-like writing is evident in the ancient world, in medieval Japan, and medieval Europe. But the novel-writing that began to take over Europe in the…
There are a number of “ecumenical” movements in 1-2 Kings. The first is pursued by Rehoboam, who attempts to reunite the 12 tribes by force and is warned off by a prophet. The second, more successful and elaborate example is the Omride dynasty, which rules Israel for several generations and…
Elisha’s ministry of life was, according to 1 Kings 19, a ministry of judgment. Elisha, after all, was a force of destabilization. By giving life and freedom to the faithful poor, the loyal sons of the prophets, he upset the “natural” hierarchy of the Northern Kingdom. By engaging in a…
The NASB translation of Proverbs 11:5 says that the righteous and blameless will walk on a “smooth” way, while the wicked will fall into the potholes that dot his path. The way of righteousness looks easy; the way of wickedness is the difficult way. Yet, Jesus says that the wide…
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