Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Not long ago, I heard these statistics about New York City: New York City is in $100 billion in debt. 20% of all NYC residents are on food stamps, which cost $250 million a month. 5% of NYC population are on disability, costing $252 million a month. Other assistance costs…
1. All political power is ambivalent. Vertical violence of “the state” tends to limit horizontal and contested power between people and between tribes. “The State” brings new oppression, but also a measure of new peace and unity. 2. All political formations are ambiguous like this: a strong family conquers weaker…
Gnosticism by any other name would smell the same. But does the church have much of a theological sense of smell, these days, when it comes to the seductions of virtuality in our worshipping communities? Social isolation during a global pandemic makes good public health sense, but whether church should…
It is a remarkable thing, you know, this thing called priority. Just a few weeks ago, religious leaders were boldly asserting in their high-dollar online videos that it was too dangerous to return to worship and that we needed to listen to our political and health leaders. "They are the…
Somewhere in the city of Jerusalem on a rooftop just a few years after the ascension of Jesus and the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost. . . ". . . and just when are you guys going to live up to your ‘Sons of Thunder’ reputation? Huh? A lot…
In my book, Solomon Says: Directives for Young Men ( Amazon , Kindle ) I mention that Solomon portrays wisdom as a woman. But I don’t ask (or answer!) why he did so. Solomon uses the figure of Lady Wisdom without apology or explanation: Wisdom cries aloud in the street,…
Showing page 66 of 309
Showing page 6 of 43
I offer some thoughts on the controversial Rupert Sheldrake at First Things today.
Isaiah searingly indicts the “watchmen” of Judah. They are blind - not a good thing in a watchman (Isaiah 56:10-12). They are like dumb dogs, incapable of barking out a warning when danger shows up. But they wouldn’t bark anyway because they spend their days lying around sleeping. They live…
Isaiah invites two categories of beasts to come to the house of God: Beasts of the field, and beasts of the forest (56:9). What kinds of beasts does he have in mind? Both are wild animals. Beast ( chayyah ) is undomesticated; while cattle ( behemah ) is a general…
According to Isaiah 56:3, sons of strangers ought not say that the Lord has separated him from the people; eunuchs ought not to think of themselves as dry trees. When eunuchs keep Sabbath, they become fruitful (vv. 4-5). The blessings to strangers and eunuchs are spelled out chiastically: A. What…
Sabbath-keeping is about what you do with your hands. Hands are organs for action. We set our hands to tasks. We give or withhold our hands from helping. You keep Sabbath by opening your hands, rather than grasping with them (cf. Deuteronomy 15:3, 7). Sabbath hands release debts, give food…
In an interview with the New York Times Book Review , Clive James anticipates Dan Brown’s Inferno : “Dan Brown’s forthcoming Inferno , of which Dante will be the central subject, has already got me trembling. Brown might have discovered that The Divine Comedy is an encrypted prediction of how…
Showing page 754 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
