Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
(continued from previous issue) Between 30 and 50 What did the Levites do between age 30 and 50? Numbers 4 shows us that they carried the house of God on their shoulders. Lifting up the Lord is an image of worship in the Bible, and David’s restructuring of the Levites…
When God created the world, He created two lands: the Throne-land of Eden (entered through the sanctuary-garden, the Garden of Eden), and the Outlying Lands, such as the lands of Havilah and Cush. This essentially bi-polar world is the world of the Old Creation, and it continued to exist until…
Color is inescapable, except for those who are color blind. In our church architecture, we either employ color schemes that are helpful to worship, or we employ color schemes that are not helpful. Of course, this assertion merely begs the question: What color schemes are most helpful. God showed interest…
As I noted in an earlier article in Rite Reasons , the Church Fathers Tertullian, Ambrose, and Augustine all claimed that baptism inducts the baptized person into membership in the royal priesthood of the church, and Thomas Aquinas said that baptism, by imprinting an indelible “character” on the soul, confers…
When the Aaronic priests were ordained, the blood of the ram of "filling” was placed on the lobe of the right ear, the right thumb, and the right big toe (Lev. 8:22-24). Similarly, the cleansing rite for a leper included smearing the right ear lobe, thumb, and big toe with…
In my Preliminary Commentary on Daniel , which many of you have obtained, I argued in chapter 13 that the four monsters called up from the sea by the evangelistic work of the four winds (the saints) represented the deep hatred of God that evangelistic work brings to the fore…
Showing page 270 of 309
Showing page 6 of 43
John 5:30: ?I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.?E Jesus comes to do the Father?s will, and this means that the Father?s will…
This morning I want to address the students in the congregation ?Enot merely the college students but all other students we well. During the Christmas holidays, you will probably spend much more of your time at home than you have over the past few months. This could be a great…
Here’s a methodological oddity in some treatments of justification: On the one hand, justification is taken as a sum of the gospel. On the other hand, virtually the ONLY discussion of justification in the OT is philological ?Ethe meaning of the terms ?Eand often even this is limited to a…
Some additional notes on John 5, largely indebted to Gary Burge’s NIV Application commentary. It has been said that the synoptic gospels ?EMatthew, Mark, and Luke ?Eare essentially passion narratives with long introductions. That is not really a fair way to describe what goes on in the synoptics, and this…
In John 5, Jesus claims that His authority to pass judgment and His power and raise the dead both come from the Father. How are these two prerogatives related? Are they identical? Does Jesus give life and condemn to death in passing judgment? It seems that this is possible: 1)…
A few thoughts after listening to student presentations on feminist theology all morning. (I know, BTW, that there are all sorts and conditions of feminist theology.) 1) Rosemary Reuther says that Jesus’ maleness is an “accident,” on par with the accident of His Jewishness or the fact that he was…
Showing page 2028 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
