Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The idea of atonement is not a distinctly Christian, or even Hebraic, concept. It also makes an appearance in ancient Greek thought (among other places). The Greek tradition is by no means monolithic, so it isn’t possible to speak of a “Greek” concept of atonement. But there are certain commonalities…
As we know, there are seven deadly or capital sins. Prior to the list of the seven deadly sins there was a list of eight evil thoughts or demons. It was made by an Eastern monk, Evagrius Ponticus. When the list was transposed to the West, one evil thought was…
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is one of those epistles in Scripture to which pastors and teachers resort to show the church everything that it shouldn’t be . There is, of course, good reason for this. The Corinthian church was filled with all sorts of problems. Personality cults (i.e., factions),…
Today is Ash Wednesday , and as many Christians of the Protestant formerly "low church" persuasion are reacquiring some of the good and ancient practices of the church, one question in particular comes to the front: to ash or not to ash? That is, while many of us are finding…
A murder of tweets. To observe Lent rightly, we have to be persuaded that we already stand in God’s favor. Ash Wednesday reminds us to number our days. It helps us gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12). We keep Easter to manifest and deepen our prior share in resurrection.…
Dale C. Allison, Jr., The New Moses: A Matthean Typology (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993). Dale Allison 1993 book is a superb case study in the New Testament's use of the Old. Though he focuses on only a single typology (Christ as a new Moses) in only a single gospel (Matthew), Allison's…
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Somewhat surprisingly, the first references to golden crowns in the Bible do not refer to kings but to priests. The high priest has a “crown of pure gold,” a “holy crown” on his turban (Exodus 39:30; Leviticus 8:9). Even as late as Zechariah 6:11, the silver and gold crown is…
David v. Goliath is the ultimate one-on-one showdown. By the end of 2 Samuel, though, that single combat has expanded. Goliath has four relatives: Ishbi-benob (2 Samuel 21:16); Saph (v. 18); Lahmi (v. 19; cf. 1 Chronicles 20:5); and a giant with twenty-four fingers and toes (v. 20). Goliath is…
In one of the loveliest images in the Bible, David describes the just rulers as “the light of the morning when the sun rises / a morning without clouds / the tender grass out of the earth / through sunshine after rain” (2 Samuel 23:3). What might this mean? Rulers…
Smoke ascends from the abyss, and out of the smoke come creatures that look like locusts but sting like scorpions (Revelation 9). John gives an extended seven- or eight-part description (vv. 7-10): 1) Appearance as horses. 2) Crowns of gold on head. 3) Faces like faces of men. 4) Hair…
I watched Disney’s Old Yeller (1957) with my youngest daughter the other night, and was left marveling at the effortlessness of it all. Though it’s nearly 50 years old, it doesn’t seem dated, partly because it’s a frontier movie whose setting was long outdated even when it was made. The…
Douglas Campbell argues convincingly that pistis in Galatians 3 has a christological sense ( Deliverance of God , 867-75). It seems an irrefutable point. In an extended footnote, Campbell deals with Moises Silva’s interpretation of the term in Galatians 3, which wobbles between christological interpretation and something else. Silva says…
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