Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In the Bible, all the world is a stage, but like the Tabernacle, that stage moves around a lot. David’s defeat of Goliath can only be fully understood as liturgy fulfilled in history. Liturgy, as a sacrifice of praise, is the step-by-step process of resolving a conflict. It relinquishes all…
Aristotle isn’t fundamentally wrong about friendship, nor is the long tradition that follows him. But you might not gather that by reading some of the more pointed critics of the classical conception of friendship. I think, however, that the classical view is not only viable but taken up and fulfilled…
#13 in Theopolis Papers, Seeking Integration in a Fragmented World It is time for me to “cast off” integration, the way a knitter removes a completed scarf from the needles. I want to bring my quest concerning integration to a decent closure, though my happy quest for reality continues. With…
Below are some notes on a particular sub-theme of Daniel 3, namely the downfall of Babylon’s liturgy. First up, a few words on our text’s literary construction. One of the most conspicuous features of Dan. 3 is its author’s love of lists . Personnel are listed (vs. 2, 3, 27),…
Few things in Scripture, few things in the Christian life, are more familiar than the Lord’s Prayer. Sunday after Sunday, we pray these words together with our brothers and sisters. At home, alone or with our families, we pray this prayer daily, as Jesus taught us (Luke 11:2: “When you…
At the 2019 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, the denominational delegates considered a number of official overtures (requests for action from the regional parts of the denomination) relating to issues of gender and sexuality. The PCA is conservative. As evidence of this, the assembly passed a resolution…
Showing page 76 of 309
Showing page 5 of 43
This translation is more experimental and iffy than the others. 1 Kings 6 is packed with architectural terms that are used only here, the translation of which is very doubtful. In these cases, I have considered possible etymologies that seemed appropriate to the architectural context. I have also translated all…
On the walls of the temple were carved wooden gourds. The word for these gourds is used only in 1 Kings 6:18 and 7:24. A related word, however, is used for ?wild gourd?Ein 2 Ki 4:39, the story of Elisha healing the pot of stew. Using a “pot” as an…
The language of 1 Kings 6:1ff echoes in a number of respects the language of Genesis 2:21f. To wit: 1) The word for the “side chambers” that Solomon builds on the temple is the same as the word for “rib” in Gen 2:21. 2) After taking a rib, the Lord…
Beginning the House of Yahweh, 1 Kings 6 INTRODUCTION Solomon shows his wisdom by judging rightly in the case of the two prostitutes (1 Kings 3:15-28), in the organization of his kingdom (1 Kings 4:1-19), in his vast learning (1 Kings 4:29-34), and in his covenant with Hiram of Tyre…
With the Presidential election only two months away, we are entering into an intense political season. As we enter into this final stretch, we should take a moment to consider some guidelines for our political activity. Fortunately, we are in the middle of studying a book called the book of…
1 Kings 4:21-24 As we saw in today?s sermon, the center of Solomon?s kingdom was the feast, the feast of joy. Solomon organized the kingdom, divided the kingdom into districts, selected men to manage and administer these regions. He had a cabinet, and there is no doubt that his kingdom…
Showing page 2056 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
