Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Where do we go from here? Depending on one’s perspective, the American story can plausibly be interpreted in different ways. Looked at from past to present , we can see a great deal of continuity from medieval Christendom and the Reformation to America’s founding. The War for Independence, after all,…
Click HERE for Part 1 Civic Religion: American or Christian? We have already traced out the basic contours of the shift in America from an ecclesiocentric, theocratic social order to a secular one. Building on Locke and Hobbes, the Enlightenment accomplished an astonishing coup of Christendom. That victory for the…
Author’s Introductory Note: Engaging in broad historical interpretation as I am about to do is always risky. Necessarily, one “stylizes” history by simplifying, over generalizing, and stereotyping. But the narrative qualities of history are not simply due to the imposition of human rationality upon brute facts; rather history is always…
A. Repentance to life involves endeavoring to believe real hard that you’re saved. reject infant baptism. stop watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. walk with God in all the ways of his commandments. B. What is necessary so that no sinner may expect to be forgiven unless he does it? Only…
The machine works mechanically and it is flawless. Slander/libel a group of Presbyterian ministers as “Romanist” because robes and James 2 are no worse than praying to Mary or relying on purgatory to pay for unconfessed sins. Drive off anyone who disagrees. Of that number, there may be a tiny…
If we take as a starting point the Tribal / Monarchical / Empire model, we can then add to it the Late Empire Phase. The particular ‘marker sin’ of Empire is false intermarriage, which signifies pluralism and syncretism. Empires by definition are “cosmopolitan” dominated by cities, high culture, many cultures,…
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When the seven bowl angels appear, the heavenly temple is filled with the smoke of God's glory (Revelation 15:5-8). This links with the consecration of the tabernacle in Exodus 40 and of the temple in 1 Kings 8. In both cases, the glory of the lord fills the house so…
Members of the Corinthian church were filing suits against one another before the Roman courts, and Paul was livid. Saints will judge the world. Saints will judge angels. Since the saints are destined for that level of judicial authority, “are you not competent to constitute the smallest law court?” (1…
During the latter part of the nineteenth century, writes Vanessa Ogle ( The Global Transformation of Time ), “saw dramatically enhanced interactions on a global scale, drawing people and regions into networks of production and exchange, into imperial and colonial careers and livelihoods, while disrupting autonomous, regional economic and political…
The word “bowl” (Greek, phiale ) is used twelve times in Revelation, almost all of them in chapters 15-16. The other main use comes in chapter 5, where the angelic choir is equipped with bowls of incense following the appearance of the Lamb in heaven. In chapter 15, the bowls…
In an essay on “The Obvious” (published in The Dialectics of Liberation ), R. D. Laing reflects on the “very low” visibility of social events: “In social space one's direct immediate capacity to see what is happening does not extend any further than one's own senses extend. Beyond that one…
In his Christians at the Borders , Guatemalan-American theologian M. Daniel Carroll addresses Samuel Huntington's claim that the newest American immigrants are not assimilating to American values and priorities. Carroll agrees that immigrants have a responsibility to assimilate to the host country, and provides a biblical argument in support. He…
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