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Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.

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Biblical Theology

Feasting with Elisha

After Elijah’s battered and depressed howling in the wilderness it must have seemed like the new prophet came eating and drinking. Which is a pattern we see again in the New Testament—John is explicitly identified with Elijah (Luke 1.17, Matthew 11.14), howling the truth in the wilderness that the people…

by Tim SuffieldJuly 19, 2022
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Colossians

Lie Not To One Another

Reading Robert Conquest’s biography of Stalin 1 has opened new lines of meditation on Paul’s command in Colossians 3:9. But before turning to that, let me briefly indicate what Paul is not saying. He is not saying that there is no such thing as righteous deception, such as Jael practiced…

by Ralph Allan SmithJuly 14, 2022
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Amos

Book of the Lion

You won’t find wild lions today in Israel. But lions used to range much more widely than they do now, and in biblical times they were a menace that shepherds in Israel had to contend with. David did as a shepherd boy, and Amos—who “ was among the sheepbreeders of…

by Daniel HoffmanJuly 12, 2022
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Ezekiel

An Uncool Day

I would like to remedy a flaw for English speakers in the book of Genesis. A flaw that may seem innocuous, but we must remember where the devil lives...in the details. If we are to fear the Lord, it behooves our translation committees to ensure that the fearfulness of God…

by Matthew CoreyJuly 7, 2022
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Literature

You Become What You Behold

While reading at my son’s baseball game this week, a mom from our school approached me and asked if I was reading Dante. I wasn’t, but our sons are both reading Divine Comedy in their sophomore literature class, so it was a reasonable question. What unfolded was a quick conversation…

by Mandi GerthJuly 5, 2022
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Deuteronomy

Torah as Testimony (Part 3)

In the first two essays in this series, I addressed the question of how the nations would learn about Israel’s Torah, in the second essay especially emphasizing the aesthetic aspects of Israel’s testimony. For we naturally wonder: How would people in Mesopotamia or Egypt, not to mention the rest of…

by Ralph Allan SmithJune 28, 2022

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American Religion

Two Americas

In the Spring 2004 issue of The Public Interest , Joseph Bottum insightfully examines the tensions in “biblical America” between the Enlightenment democratic public order and the fervent religiosity of the people. The tension is original and deep: “Public order in a democracy ?Ethe structure of liberalism that needs a…

March 23, 2004

Esther and Jerusalem

Gary Demar suggests in a study of Zechariah 12 that the prophecy describes the events that are recorded in the book of Esther. This is an interesting and plausiable thesis, but one particular point is especially stimulating: He suggests that the references to “Judah and Jerusalem” in Zechariah 12 are…

March 22, 2004

Eucharistic Meditation, March 21

Luke 22:28-30 One of the unique features of Luke?s account of the Last Supper is the repeated reference Jesus makes to the kingdom of God. He says He will never eat a meal again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom, and that he will not drink of the fruit…

March 21, 2004

Exhortation, March 21

When Jesus was but an infant, Simeon saw Him in the temple and prophesied: ?This one is appointed for the fall and rise of many within Israel, and for a sign to be opposed, to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.?E Throughout His life, this is…

March 21, 2004

Abraham in Romans 4

Several earlier posts have dealt with the fact that Abraham, according to the Genesis account, was a worshiper of God and a man of faith prior to being declared just in Genesis 15. I have taken that as evidence that Paul is not primarily concerned with “works righteousness” in a…

March 21, 2004

Atonement in Narrative Context

If we understand the cross and resurrection as the climactic events of the gospel narratives, what do they mean? In asking this question, I am not at all casting doubt on traditional satisfaction theories of the atonement, which are amply justified in both OT and NT. The atonement is “objective,”…

March 21, 2004

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