Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
This essay is adapted from my articles in Theopolis’s In Medias Res as a series of Holy Week meditations. Like many celebrities such as Kanye or Beyoncé or Adele, Josquin des Prez (d. 1521) was often known only by his first name, in his own time as now. “Josquin” is…
Sight is a major theme in the scriptures. The church has long identified sight’s relationship to the future fulfillment of the eschaton. As Paul says, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1 Cor 13.12). Sight is associated with…
What is the chief end of man? —yes, to glorify God and enjoy him forever. But how ought man–and all creation–so glorify him? I propose a Theopolitan addition to the catechism, question and answer number 1.5, begun in the last question and answered as follows: Earth’s inhabitants were created to…
Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. Genesis 49:21 Frederick Buechner once said, “We move into the extraordinary by way of the ordinary.” In poetry, this happens by way of a compressed code of analogs; often, two or more very ordinary things begin to reveal something that…
The evangelical milieu of America has often lost a vision of the fruit of repentance. We tend to simplify repentance by asking for forgiveness. After all, Jesus tells Peter to forgive 70 times 7. This verse must be paired with Paul’s scoffing at the question: why not sin more so…
I. The hemorrhaging woman. En route to Jairus’ house, Jesus is touched by a woman with a hemorrhage of blood (Matt 9:18–26; Mk 5:21–34; Lk 8:40–48). The story is one that many of us know very well. She has been yoked to her illness for twelve years, all of her…
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At the end of Rom 7, Paul is looking forward to a deliverance from the power of sin and death that holds him. His wretchedness is not relieved by the law, but only made worse. But he hopes for a deliverance, one that he characterizes as a future deliverance: ?Who…
1 Kings 9:26-28 The portrait of Solomon in 1 Kings 9 is by no means completely negative. Solomon continues building, providing defense for the land by building up fortifications at strategic points. Despite his estrangement from Hiram, he continues to have some kind of working relationship with him, as these…
?Walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness.?E Thus the Lord speaks to Solomon. And we respond, ?Say what? Walk like David?? Wasn?t David an adulterer and a murderer? Wasn?t his family an absolute mess? Wasn?t he a poor father, who spent the last…
What are we to make of Paul’s discussion of sin in Romans 7? If we take it as a description of fallen humanity as such, it is difficult to see how it can square with other portions of Scripture or with the Reformed doctrine of sin. Paul presents sin as…
Jerome Walsh notes that the temple and palace of Solomon were completed 500 years after the exodus (480 years in 1 Ki 6:1 + 20 years for completion, 9:10). Walsh suggests that the 500 year total alludes to the Jubilee; this would have been the 10th Jubilee since the exodus,…
In a few earlier posts, I’ve hinted at the idea that the temple should be conceived of as feminine, a bride-house in which Yahweh the husband dwells. A curious turn of phrase in 1 Kings 9 fits with that idea. After the dedication of Solomon’s temple, Yahweh appears to him…
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