Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
For many people Christmas comes on December 25 and is over December 26. The tree is taken down along with the lights and the other decorations, and everyone begins setting the house in order for the new year. No more Christmas hymns. No more celebrations (well, until New Year’s Eve).…
The Ascension and the Incarnation should not be disconnected in our Christmas thinking or celebrations. As N.T. Wright notes, the ascension is "a central and vital feature without which all sorts of other things start to go demonstrably wrong. . . . where the ascension has been ignored or misunderstood,…
“In the Word was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness.” Thus John describes the incarnation of the Son. He comes as the living and life-giving light of the world. That’s good news. In the beginning, God spoke and light shone…
Christmas is all about Jesus. The angels announce Jesus’ birth, shepherds and wise men come to see Jesus, Herod wants to kill Jesus. We occasionally think of the Father who sent the Son, but we keep returning to the Son made flesh in Bethlehem’s manger. Meanwhile, as always, the Spirit…
Christmas is about many things, but one of the chief things revealed in the gospel of Christmas is the humility of God. We don't often think of humility as an attribute of God. If God is glorious and exalted, we think, He must be haughty and proud and self-centered. We…
John famously begins his Gospel with a piece of theology: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Matthew starts with a genealogy. John celebrates Advent with a hymn, Matthew with a list. For John, Jesus is the Word of creation…
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Solomon?s Kingdom Established, 1 Kings 2:1-46 INTRODUCTION 1 Kings 2 consists of two large scenes. First, David gives his final instructions to Solomon (vv. 1-12); these verses are bracketed by the word ?days?E(vv. 1, 11). Second, Solomon carries out David?s instructions, enabling him to establish his kingdom (vv. 12-46); these…
Wilfred McClay reviews two recent biographies of Nathaniel Hawthorne in the August 23 Weekly Standard , and argues for a rehabilitation of Hawthorne’s reputation. He gives a superb short summary of Hawthorne’s characteristic tone in a brief discussion of the 1837 short story collection, Twice-Told Tales : “One could plausibly…
Paul Rahe has a fascinating article in the Summer 2004 issue of the Wilson Quarterly , in which he discusses the assessments of 18th-century world order that were offered by Voltaire and Montesquieu. Along the way, he suggests a connection between French interest in the English constitution and the development…
1 Kings 1:25 This morning?s sermon text contrasts two rival princes, both vying for the throne of David. Adonijah attempts to lift himself up, and ends up abased; Solomon does nothing, relying on the intercession of his mother, and yet he inherits the kingdom. Part of the contrast is a…
Slavery is back in the local news, and it?s a good time once again to reflect on how we should deal with this subject. First and foremost, we must examine what the Scriptures say about slavery, since the Bible is our ultimate authority of faith and practice. A central theme…
In most Reformation theology, imputation is a distinct act from justification. God Christ’s righteousness to us, and in a distinct act declares that we are righteous because Christ’s righteousness clothes and covers us. Is this what Paul means by LOGIZOMAI (“reckon, impute”)? I don’t mean to resolve that question in…
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