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Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.

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Abortion

To Kill or Not to Kill

It seems to be old news, but I was unaware of it until recently. Australian academics argued that mothers should be allowed to terminate the life of a newborn child. [i] Why would they promote such an idea? Because before the child is born it is not always possible to…

by Ralph Allan SmithSeptember 12, 2019
pascal
Philosophy

Is the Betting Rigged in Pascal's Wager?

This is the second of two essays introducing Pascal’s Wager. Click HERE for Part 1. In “The Pop Star and the Mathematician” I gave an overview of the apologetic approach commonly called Pascal’s Wager. In that Wager, 17 th -century French mathematician Blaise Pascal argued that the choice between Christian…

by Alexander WhitakerSeptember 10, 2019
pascal
Philosophy

The Mathematician and the Pop Star: A Pascal's Wager Primer

This is the first of two essays aiming to introduce the reader to Pascal’s Wager. The second will address criticisms of the Wager. In the early 1990s, a perennially popular British pop star was interviewed on British television about his very public evangelical Christian faith. “What if,” the reporter asked…

by Alexander WhitakerSeptember 5, 2019
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Matthew

The Secret of the Middle of Matthew

Matthew 13 is about secrets. In this chapter, Jesus teaches eight parables and tells the disciples that they reveal the secrets of the kingdom (13:11). And much like Samson who both tells riddles and is himself a riddle that the reader must solve, so Jesus not only tells secrets but…

by John HigginsSeptember 3, 2019
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Biblical Theology

David, Goliath, and the Body of Moses, (Part 2)

Click HERE for part One. THE TEXT AS TABERNACLE Creation – Initiation – Genesis (1 Samuel 17:1-11) The gathered armies not only remind the reader of Ebal and Gerizim, but also of the very reason that Israel was established (Creation) , set apart from the other nations by the circumcision…

by Mike BullAugust 29, 2019
job
Job

The Man in the Middle

What to do with Job’s Final “Friend,” Elihu Elihu is a strange character, at least in the sense of how and where he appears in the book of Job. Why does he not appear with the other three “friends?” Does his argument differ from any of the first three who…

by Eric RobinsonAugust 27, 2019

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History

Chinese and Hebraic thought

In his fascinating Faith of Our Fathers , Chan Kei Thong points to many biblical images embedded in Chinese characters. His argument could be made even stronger by looking at Hebrew terminology. For instance, he says of the character “zui,” which means sin, that “The top part is . .…

May 11, 2007
History

Chinese Creation

At the beginning of the Great Sacrifice performed by the Chinese emperor for centuries, singers sang the song of creation, addressed to the “Sovereign Lord” known as “Shang Di”: “Of old in the beginning, there was the great chaos, without form and dark. The five planets had not begun to…

May 11, 2007

Perichoretic imagination

One of the differences between those associated with “Federal Vision” theology and those opposed to it is a difference of theological imagination. The opponents operate with a theological imagination that distinguishes and clarifies; ontology is distinguished from relationality, nature from supernature, ecclesiology from soteriology. On the other side are theologians…

May 11, 2007
History

Bos and Bobos

According to Adolf Loos, a turn of the 20th-century Viennese architect and critic, modern style combines beauty and practicality. Both are necessary: “By beautiful, what we mean is that something has achieved fullness, completion. But no useless, impractical object can really be described as ‘full’ or ‘complete.’” One can imagine…

May 8, 2007

Kiuchi on Leviticus

Some initial observations on Nobuyoshi Kiuchi’s recent commentary on Leviticus in the Apollos series from IVP. 1) Kiuchi intriguingly translates hata and hatta’t , traditionally rendered in terms of “sin” or “purification” in terms of “hiding”: ” hata and hatta’t mean ‘to hide oneself’ and the condition of ‘hiding oneself,’…

May 8, 2007

The Spoken Son

A student points out that Hebrews 1-2:4 contains seven quotations from the Old Testament. Through these seven words, God speaks His Son as the new creation.

May 7, 2007

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