Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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There must be, I think, some connection between the parable of the sower in Luke 8 and the harvest Jesus talks about at the beginning of Luke 10. Jesus has been sowing the seed of the word of God, and some has begun to grow up. The harvest is ripe,…
A student of mine, Luke Jankovic, tracing the motif of “donkeys” in Genesis, came up with a couple of interesting angles. First, he noted that Abram first acquires donkeys in Egypt in Genesis 12, a proto-plundering of Egypt. And in this context the donkeys are involved in a dowry paid…
There are numerous indications of parallels between the history of the Omride dynasty and the history of the kingdom of Judah (and of the Northern Kingdom). One is that a king in both the Omride and Davidic dynasty dies at Megiddo. Ahaziah is shot by Jehu during Jehu’s rebellion, flees…
Exhortation for October 5: Luke’s account of the Transfiguration is one of the densest passages in the entire New Testament. In context, it is a preview of the glory the Son of Man will display when He comes in His kingdom. It is a sign of Jesus’ messianic glory, a…
Eucharistic meditation for October 5: We have seen Jesus at meals on several occasions in Luke’s gospel, and each time the meal has been an occasion for instruction about the kingdom of God. When Jesus went to Levi’s house, He was demonstrating by His meal practice that He is the…
Some very good material in Kenneth Bailey’s discussion of the end of Luke 9 (in Through Peasant Eyes ). Bailey is especially illuminating on the first of Jesus’ encounters with the reluctant disciples. This man volunteers to follow Jesus, but Jesus alerts him that the cost will be great. Jesus…
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