Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Reformed theology has changed. And there seems to be no going back. It was in the year 1978 that a tectonic shift in the underlying structure of Reformed theology began with the publication of a small book. The changes were not only systematic, but also systemic—affecting all aspects of it.…
Since the term, “alt-right,” is being tossed about in the national media and is the subject of moral concern (or perhaps, moral panic), it might be good to identify what we’re talking about or at least admit the limitations of using nicknames to describe cultural shifts and voter behavior. Until…
Confession Confession belongs at the beginning of the liturgy. We enter into God’s house, invited for a meal, and we need to clean up before we do that. Cleansing was a requirement for the priests of the OT before they entered the sanctuary to minister (Exodus 30:17-21). When Yahweh appeared…
“And God made the two great lights; the greater light for the dominion of the day, and the lesser light for the dominion of the night; the stars also.” (Genesis 1:16, NASV) In Judges 5, verse 31, the prophetess Deborah prays, "let those who love Him be like the rising…
In part 1 of this article we saw how various attempts to identify the underlying structure of Gen. 22:1-19 fell short and proposed a new structure for the passage. In part 2, we will look at how the sections of the chiasm relate and draw some conclusions from our investigation.…
Chiastic structures abound in the book of Genesis. For example, the Flood narrative is one long chiasm, as is the life of Abraham. It is the contention of this brief study that Gen. 22:1-19, also known as the Aqedah, is another such passage. And this structure reveals a talented author…
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Barth famously argues there is an I-Thou within humanity itself that manifests the inner reciprocity, the differentiation and union, that is the life of the Trinity: “that it is in the differentiation of man and woman, the relation of sex, that there is this repetition, is an indication of the…
Augustine taught that scientia, knowledge of historical events, was necessary for Christian theology, but that all theology aspired to love of God, which is more closely bound with “sapientia” or wisdom. By the time Aquinas raised the question of whether sacred doctrine is a form of wisdom, however, the terms…
James K. Mead has a fine article on 1 Kings 13 from an issue of VT several years ago. He proposes a parallel structure for the whole chapter: Scene 1 (vv. 1-10) matches scene 3 (vv. 20-25); in both there is a calling out, a pronouncement from Yahweh, a sign,…
In an article on 1 Kings 13, Werner Lemke noted a number of parallels with the prophecy of Amos, specifically parallels between the man of God from Judah and Amos himself. 1) Both are from Judah and prophesy at Bethel. 2) Both confront authorites at Bethel. 3) Both predict the…
INTRODUCTION One of the great evils of American Christianity is the idolization of the family. American Christians believe that blood is thicker than baptismal water, and that the family is a redemptive institution. But the primary family for Christians is the “brotherhood” of the church, and Jesus stressed that discipleship…
One sometimes hears references to a “metaphorical imagination,” but biblical imagery often works also by metonymy. It is not only that the tree of, say, Psalm 1 “stands for” strength or stability. It is that, as the Psalm makes clear by emphasizing the fruitfulness or the tree who is a…
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