Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Gambling The Bible nowhere condemns gambling, and so we need to be careful in our assessment of it. Let me begin by making a strong case against gambling. Then I will surprise most readers by pointing out that gambling may not always be sinful. The reader should bear in mind…
Tim Powers, The Stress of Her Regard (Ace Books, 1991). Reviewed by Jeffrey Meyers. Tim Power’s latest novel is now available in paperback. The story is set in early nineteenth century England and Italy, in the world of the poets John Keats, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron. Michael Crawford, a…
A close supporter of Biblical Horizons asks whether it is proper and wise to get involved in all the boycotts that Christians are being asked to observe today. She raises the point that Paul’s advice about eating meat sacrificed to idols seems relevant to the discussion. I think she is…
Solomon began to build the Temple of the Lord in the fourth year of his reign, which was 480 years after Israel came out of Egypt, the year A.M. 2993 (1 Kings 6:1). Seven years later, in the year A.M. 3000, the Temple building was finished (1 Kings 6:38). The…
Several months back, a candidate for ordination was being examined for entrance into the Presbytery of which I am a member. The candidate had a good deal of trouble with the exam on the sacraments, stumbling badly as he tried to define the "nature of the sacrament." Apparently in an…
Exploring the influence of televangelism on American religion in his book, The Struggle for America’s Soul , Princeton sociologist Robert Wuthnow presents a typical, though hypothetical, case study: Mabel Miller. Mabel lives alone, thousands of miles from her family. She grew up in a Baptist Church, but now, approaching 65,…
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“Day of wrath” in Romans 2:5: This is universally (so far as I know) taken as a reference to the final day of judgment. But a) is there any other passage in Scripture that uses this phrase to refer to the final judgment? and b) is the final day of…
There’s a pretty devastating review of A.S. Byatt’s latest novel in the current issue of The New Republic . I’ve not kept pace with Byatt since I read Possession years ago, but I remember being impressed with Byatt’s erudition and range as a writer. The TNR reviewer, though, suggests that…
Strive to Enter, Luke 12:54-13:35 INTRODUCTION Jesus said that blasphemy against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but that blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven (Luke 12:10). The contrast has to do with different periods of Jesus’ work. He came as “Son of Man,” warning the Jews…
And here’s another thing from Murphy on the Exodus plagues: “The Pharaoh’s magicians had proudly imitated Moses’ conjuring: they can turn rods into crocodiles too. But was it wise to demonstrate that they can as powerfully invoke a plague of frogs as the prophet of Yahweh? They are on automatic…
Oh, as I read on, Murphy is making the book worth it: On Pharaoh and the plagues: “As Egypt’s sources of life and fertility are destroyed, plague by plague, so Pharaoh’s respose rigidifies. Pharaoh is progressively mummified.” She later adds: “The substitution [of Egypt’s firstborn] makes sense if we see…
The first few pages of Francesca Aran Murphy’s The Comedy Of Revelation were delightful, but her section on Genesis was disappointing. The comedy she sees in Genesis is mainly of her own making ?Eshe simply retells the biblical stories in a jazzy, smark-alecky fashion, and we’re supposed to say, presumably,…
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