Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
From time to time, when I’ve lectured on how to read the Bible, I’ve used art-music as one example thereof. When we listen to a simple folk song, we hear the same melody over and over again, but this is not how composers write "high" music. Let me amplify. A…
Sermons are rarely more tiresome than when they strive for relevance. Drawing from the latest headlines transforms the preacher into a one-man MacLaughlin Group, a Crossfire without the cross though perhaps with some of the fire, and leave the congregation thinking, "If I wanted Meet the Press, I could have…
Part One: The Old Testament “Drink is in itself a good creature of God, and to be received with thankfulness, but the abuse of drink is from Satan, the wine is from God, but the drunkard is from the Devil” Increase Mather in Wo to Drunkards (1673). 1. The “wine”…
28. These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away into exile: in the 7th year 3023 Jews. 29. In the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar 832 persons from Jerusalem. 30. In the 23rd year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile 745 Jewish people; there were 4600…
Revelation 21:24 says, concerning the light shining from the New Jerusalem, "and the nations will walk by her light, and the kings of the land will bring their glory into her." Similarly, Revelation 22:2 says, concerning the Tree of Life, that "the leaves of the tree were for the healing…
Jeremiah and the Beginning of Jehoiakim’s Reign Now comes Jeremiah, at the beginning of Jehoiakim’s reign, with similar words (Jeremiah 26). Harken to God’s law, he said, or else God will destroy the Temple the same way He sent the Philistines to tear down the Tabernacle at Shiloh (Jeremiah 26:6;…
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Random and inconclusive notes on 2 Kings 4:8ff. 1) The woman at Shunem has a husband, in contrast to the woman at the beginning of the story who was a widow. Both, though, need Elisha as a ?father?Ewho will give birth to/save their children. 2) The Shunammite speaks of Elisha…
The story of the widow and her sons moves from death to life: the dead man of verse 1 is exchanged for the ?live on the remainder?Ein verse 7. The story is also a Passover: Children are saved from slavery, and they are saved by being locked into a house…
Since I posted a lengthy summary of David Hart’s sharp critique of Robert Jenson, it’s only fair to note that Jenson disputes Hart’s account of his theology. In a review in Pro Ecclesia, Jenson claims that Hart “seriously misrepresents me,” though he adds that they have “anyway come to a…
Aquinas de malo, Question 3, article 1: Does God cause sin? One can be a ?cause of sin?Ein two ways, first by sinning and second by causing another to sin. God does not cause sin in either sense. Regarding the first: Thomas describes sin as a failure to attain an…
My favorite line from Eudora Welty’s short story, “Why I live at the P.O.”: “Papa-Daddy’s Mama’s papa and sulks.”
The London Times Online reported on May 29 on a new proposal regarding gay clergy in the Church of England: “Homosexual priests in the Church of England will be allowed to ‘marry’ their boyfriends under a proposal drawn up by senior bishops, led by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.…
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