Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Who were the company of singers who sang in the Temple built by Solomon? I think many people might answer “the Levitical singers.” That is not correct, because the Levites were not allowed inside the Temple; only the priests were. The Levitical choir and orchestra performed for Yahweh outside the…
Dear Congregation, Social media is awash with rants for and against the ruling from the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) yesterday regarding homosexual marriage ( Obergefell v. Hodges ). My contribution on Facebook was simply to quote relevant sections of the dissents written by the four judges in the minority. Even though…
After the Civil War, the hobbled nation and fractured races looked about for leadership; animosity was high and envy was crouching at the door. Booker Taliaferro Washington, up from slavery, surveyed the rising tension and injustice, foreseeing civil unrest and chafing inequalities, eschewed, remarkably, a legislative remedy and advised a…
The ruling on Obergefell v. Hodges “came down” on Friday morning, June 26, 2015, like a bolt from Zeus. Many who refuse to bow to the dictates of our Olympians will write trenchant legal, theological, and cultural/political analyses of the court’s ruling. What I’m comfortable contributing to the historical record,…
Orthodox Christianity has lost all cultural potency in the U.S. No one defending traditional marriage before the court dared raise the fundamental question: Who creates marriage, God or the state? Theology has no public standing, no persuasive force in the culture at large. Obergefell is another nail in the coffin…
One will rarely come upon a classical allusion in a Robert Frost poem. His poetic scheme was to follow the speaking patterns of common folk, to use their words and images to achieve his point. Despite this simplicity, there is a depth and richness to his poetry that can be…
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S ome commentators on Revelation give the Parthian empire a major role in the book. The Parthian empire stretched from the Euphrates to Iran; the Silk Road passed through, making it crucial to trade routes from the Roman empire to the far east. Romans and Parthians fought several times during…
D avid wants to build Yahweh a house, and Nathan the prophet approves (1 Chronicles 17:1-2). That night, the word of Yahweh comes to Nathan to correct him. When Nathan delivers the oracle, David is a new Abraham, to whom the “Word of the Lord came” to promise the land…
E nrique Dussel ( Underside of Modernity ) explains Hegel’s defection from Kant in theological terms. Inspired by Schiller's distinction of reason as “the vital faculty of synthesis” and understanding as the faculty that “determines its object, separates it, kills it,” Hegel described the kingdom of Jesus in terms of…
I have only two quick responses to Toby Sumpter's generous and thoughtful review of (a part of) The End of Protestantism . First, he expresses the wish that I would have called the book The End of Denominationalism or somesuch, hinting that I chose the title because of its rhetorical…
P aul Duff ( Who Rides the Beast? 90) calls attention to five parallels between the prophetess Jezebel of Thyatira (Revelation 2) and the harlot city Babylon (Revelation 17-18). “First, Ahab's wife was a queen—of the kingdom of Israel in the ninth century BCE; the regal bearing of ‘Babylon' in…
I n an essay on radical Augustinian social critique in his Religion, Truth, and Social Transformation , Lambert Zuidervaart summarizes the social vision of Herman Dooyeweerd with two themes: spiritual antithesis and structural differentiation. The antithesis is, for Dooyeweerd, “universal, comprehensive, and deeply spiritual,” running “right through the Christian life…
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