Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Inspired by the “Moscow Mood” Debate In a shocking 1961 study, Yale psychologist Stanley Milgram would don an official-looking white lab coat and tell a volunteer to administer increasing shocks to another “volunteer” in an adjacent room strapped into an “electric chair” just out of sight. The shocks were incrementally…
My title and the substance of the article are borrowed from a section of David Wenham’s excellent book, Paul: Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity? I am appropriating ideas from the pages in his book which address the question, “Why Does Paul refer to Jesus’ Life and Ministry so…
Some of us may be familiar with the notion that the epistle of James is like a New Testament version of Proverbs or other wisdom literature. According to this line of thinking, the epistle of James (together with the other wisdom literature) is basically a collection of timeless sayings without…
This summer I started walking a long trail that ran north from our home. On my best days, I would walk a total of five miles at a brisk pace. This trail follows the power lines that serve a significant portion of North Dallas and stretches far past the two…
I am an Australian. I went to the American Academy of Religion mega-fest last year to meet up with some friends, to present a paper at a ‘science and religion’ panel, and to marvel at the sheer scale of how Americans do things. It was quite a ride. Looking at…
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 We evangelicals do not often understand the roles of men and women in ministry. Because our consumerist culture has gutted the notion of family as it was historically understood, all Biblical passages about women in church ministry (a familial organism) are almost incomprehensible to…
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The current issue of Semeia (#45) is devoted to “New Testament Masculinities,” and is a contribution to the growing academic study of masculinity. Jerome Neyrey has an interesting article here on Jesus’ masculinity in the gospel of Matthew. Two of his conclusions are particularly noteworthy: 1) “Matthew rarely locates [Jesus]…
A couple of thoughts on the Renaissance, inspired by Spenser: First, Spenser’s emphasis on the proper use of the body (Book 2 of the Faerie Queene , the book of temperance) highlights the anti-Platonic thrust of Spenser’s viewpoint. That was, if Greenblatt is to be believed, a central thrust of…
There are a number of allusions to the original creation account in the account of Babel in Genesis 11. First, there is the general point that Yahweh is destroying what men have built ?Ea rebellious creation “decreated” by Yahweh. Second, the creation echoes are strengthened by Yahweh’s sarcastic “let us”…
Here’s a thesis to explore: The problems of feminist theology are intertwined with issues of sacramental theology and theological semiotics. If the SYMBOLISM of male and female is epiphenomenal, then feminist theology makes sense. If symbol and essence are co-determining, then feminist challenges to the Christian tradition are basically off-track.
Eucharistic meditation for Third Sunday of Advent: Deuteronomy 12. During Israel’s wilderness wanderings, the tabernacle, Yahweh’s royal tent, was set in the middle of the Israelite camp, and was the place of worship and feasting. In the wilderness, an Israelite could not eat meat unless the animal had been slaughtered…
I want particularly to address our out-of-town college students this morning, though what I have to say has some application to everyone. So, don’t tune out. This coming week, most of you students will be returning home for the holidays, and as you return home you will be faced with…
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