Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
When I wrote my commentary on Ecclesiastes A Table in the Mist I took Eccl. 11:1-2 as a reference to the risk of international trade. It sure did seem to me like a reference to Solomon’s risky trade with other nations. Israel exported grain (bread) and Solomon’s ships returned to…
When we read an alphabetical psalm in English, we miss the fact that each verse begins with a new letter of the Hebrew alphabet. I have found one way to get around this, which is for the leader to announce something relevant about each letter before reading his half of…
How does the Lord’s Supper proclaim the death of Jesus until He comes? (1 Corinthians 11:26). Historically, liturgists have attempted to locate some act in the rite of the Supper that corresponds to the death of Jesus: the fraction (breaking of bread), or the fact that bread and wine are…
These notes are posted here by request. We all now live in the age of slob worship thanks to the “sixties.” I never experienced sitting for prayer until 20 years ago. Jesus was unhappy when His disciples could not watch and pray for one hour. Today’s slob Christians complain if…
On September 11, 2001, Jesus brought judgment upon the United States of America. Following His normal procedure, He used an even more evil force to do it (Habakkuk 1-3). The warning Jesus gives throughout the Bible to those He uses to punish others is that they need to repent, or…
Because of Donald Trump, the “Birther” issue is heating up. It is not going away, and is only part of a larger cluster of issues in regard to the President. Virtually all of the relevant documents concerning who he is and where he has been, have been suppressed, at great…
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Thomas Renz ( Rhetorical Function of the Book of Ezekiel) argues that "The first twenty-four chapters of the book present a loosely structured movement in cycles with ever greater involvement of the readers." Each cycle is "marked by a narrative portion which includes either a date (1:1-3) or a notice…
Recent commentators on Leviticus have emphasized the “ mixed” character of the blasphemer in chapter 24. He's the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father. While acknowledging the importance of that feature of the story, Leigh Trevaskis thinks that the emphasis should be placed on the location of…
Barth and Rahner both rejected using "person" to describe the Father, Son, and Spirit, opting instead of a translation of the Cappadocian phrase tropoi hyparxeos , three "modes of being" or "manners of subsistence." William Hasker ( Metaphysics and the Tri-Personal God , 93-94)wonders what payoff they hope to gain,…
Pierre Manent offers a needed corrective to glib modern talk about Machiavelli's "realism" ( An Intellectual History of Liberalism ). He acknowledges that "in political 'reality' there are murders, conspiracies, coups d'etat." But that's not the whole story: "there are also periods and regimes without murders, or conspiracies, or coups…
Christian hope has a Eucharistic shape, and Eucharistic hope is hope in Christ. Our hope is in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:19; Ephesians 1:12). Christ in us is the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). Christ’s resurrection is the target of Abrahamic faith, he who hoped against hope for resurrection, for new…
The Eucharist is a feast of faith; it is a love feast. It also embodies the third theological virtue. Hope is inherent to the Eucharist. In Luke’s account of the Last Supper, Jesus calls attention to the future reality of which the Supper is a sign. He expresses his desire…
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