Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Theophanic revelation is historically progressive, or eschatological, in character. First of all, in Genesis 1:2, the Spirit appeared inside the creation, sent by the Father. After the creation of man, the Spirit worked and works with humanity to bring us to maturity, from Daughter to Bride to fruitful Mother. He…
On the eighth day of the rite of "filling the hand," Aaron began his service at the altar. His first offering was a "calf" (Heb. `egel ), which served as a purification offering for himself and (apparently) his household (Leviticus 9:2, 8). This is striking for a couple of reasons.…
One of the distinctive items of the high priest’s clothing was the "golden plate" inscribed with the words "Holy to Yahweh" (Exodus 28:36-38). The word translated as "plate" is tsits , which literally means "flower." The verbal and noun forms are both used in Numbers 17:8, which describes Aaron’s rod…
The square, rectangle, and cross shapes appear all over the sanctuaries God reveals in the Bible: Tabernacle, Solomon’s Temple, Ezekiel’s Temple, New Jerusalem. One thing that can be said right away about these designs, and the occasional perfect circle (the lavers), is that they do not occur in nature. They…
"For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea-monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40). Some reflections on Jonah’s Big Fish have led to the following essay. Let me…
Citing Melchizedek in Genesis 14:18-20, James Jordan has written that "the name of God in use among the nations was God Most High’" (Hebrew, `el `elyon ; in Through New Eyes , p. 176). In addition to Melchizedek, one could cite the example of Balaam, who invokes the Lord both…
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Roland Worth provides a valuable treatment of the Sermon on the Mount by discussing the OT background to Jesus’ teaching. His overall argument is that the antitheses of Jesus’ sermon do not offer anything especially new but are “firmly rooted in Old Testament teaching.” Jesus’ “I say” is not a…
In his fascinating, if sometimes eccentric book, The Unity of the Bible: Exploring the Beauty and Structure of the Bible , Duane Christensen suggests that 1-2 Kings (like much of the Bible) is structured by a series of embedded heptamerous chiasms (“wheels within wheels” he calls them; also “menorah” structures).…
INTRODUCTION Ahab?s life ends in a battle with the Arameans, but the story of Ahab?s death includes another, deeper battle ?Ethe battle between true and false prophecy. Ahab?s life ends the way it began, with Ahab ignoring Yahweh?s prophet. But he cannot escape the prophet?s word by ignoring the prophet.…
Thanks to Chris Morris for provoking these thoughts, or actually sharing them with me: 1) John 4:1-42 appears to be chiastically structured: A. Jesus baptizing, moving into Galilee, 4:1-4 B. Jesus and the woman discuss water, 4:5-15 C. Jesus and the woman discuss marriage, 4:16-18 D. The woman declares Jesus…
Distinctions between inner and outer, between status and being, run through Berkhof’s treatment of justification in his systematic theology. For instance: Justification does not, as some languages imply, “denote a change that is brought about in man” but rather means “to effect an objective relation, the state of righteousness, by…
Veronica Koperski has a useful (if overly detailed) overview of current debates on Paul and the Law in her 2001 Paulist Press volume, What Are They Saying About Paul and the Law? . Refreshingly, Koperski does not simply review the same old cast of characters, but includes fairly extensive treatments…
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