Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Mrs. Marguerite Lane of Grand Rapids writes to ask if I have ever noticed a correlation between the eight beatitudes of Matthew 5 and the eight woes of Matthew 23. I confess that I have not. A glance at various commentators reveals that such a correspondence does not seem to…
1. The words of Agur, the son of Jakeh, the burden. The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal: 2. Surely I am more stupid than any other man, And I do not have the understanding of a man. 3. And I have not learned wisdom, But I have…
Psalm 137 is widely regarded as one of the meanest of the imprecatory psalms. Certainly as we read it it is seems to be a song of pure vengeance. The exiles in Babylon, in grief over the judgment that Babylon has brought upon them, pray for the destruction of that…
In the Levitical law, the priests received two particular portions of each peace offering: the "wave offering" of the breast and the "heave offering" (or better, "contribution") of the right thigh. The purpose of this essay is to attempt to determine the reason why the second of these, the thigh,…
The story of Jesus’ visit, early in His ministry, to the synagogue in His home town of Nazareth is recorded for us in Luke 4:16-30. You may remember that Jesus read from Isaiah about how the Messiah would preach the gospel, care for the poor, work miracles, and bring in…
(The essay that follows concerns a rather touchy subject: how the Lord’s Supper is to be done. I am not writing to insult or offend, but to challenge. To that end I have not "held back" but have "gone ahead" and said what I think needs to be said —…
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Inspired by Balthasar, Kevin Vanhoozer, Sam Wells and others, many theologians are working within a theatrical model of theology and theological ethics. The theatrical turn has some classical roots (e.g., Calvin’s idea of the world as the theater of God’s glory), but recent work has pressed the model much further…
There’s much to like in Iain Provan’s Seriously Dangerous Religion . The book presents the Bible’s answers to a set of ten perennial questions about the world, God, sexes, evil, creation, society, hope. He compares the biblical answers to the answers of other religions and worldviews, including Western modernity. Though…
John sees four living creatures in the midst of and around the Lord’s throne. They are the cherubim who form the throne (Revelation 4:6b-7). They are full of eyes, so they can look every which way as they guard the holiness of the Lord’s presence (v. 6b). But we never…
Theodore Jennings is death on forensic justification ( Outlaw Justice , 62): “So-called forensic justification had God declaring people to be just who manifestly are not just., thereby vitiating the claim of justice itself.” This violates the whole thrust of Paul’s argument in Romans, Jennings thinks: “It would be difficult…
Carl Trueman offers an irenic response to our conversation about the future at Protestantism last week. One key difference between us is this: Carl thinks that unity is a “desirable” goal. I think that’s far too weak a way to capture the New Testament’s teaching. Unity is an evangelical demand…
I appreciate Brad Littlejohn’s dispassionate report on our conversation about the future of Protestantism. I most appreciated his recognition that my argument rested on a reading of the biblical narrative. I learned from Jim Jordan long ago that the Bible presents a narrative of repeated creations, repeated deaths, repeated rebirths.…
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