Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Figure: Literary structure of the Garden narrative The Garden narrative describes God forming the adam , resting him in his presence, then provisioning for his appetites of food, vocation, and mate. It continues to describe a snake, the introduction of death, and humanity's expulsion from the garden. The pages of…
I’ve spent the last few years studying the theology of St. Irenaeus (d. circ. 200ad). In particular, I’ve been gripped by the way that Irenaeus consistently resisted the anti-body emphasis that emerged in later Christian theology. His eschatology is remarkably focused on the resurrection of the body, and the renewal…
Details of Jesus in Exodus 1:22-2:25 Although there are a great many Christ-types in the Old Testament, it is hard to overplay the obviousness of some that seem to necessarily rise to the top before others. One of these is Isaac, with his near sacrifice by his own father after…
What can we say about Cain's wicked sanctuary-city of Enoch? First that it was built with a brother's blood as its cornerstone. The Church is also built such, for Jesus was the younger brother of the whole Adamic race, slain by that company of older brothers because they hated Him.…
In Genesis 2:9 the ground brought forth trees good for food, delightful to view, and in two cases, life-giving or rule-bestowing. Adam, made of the ground (2:7), would by implication bring forth new trees, and thus trees and plants are among the symbols for human beings throughout the Bible. The…
One of the must fundamental teachings of the Bible and of the Christian religion is that man does not have life in himself. Man must get life from outside of himself, in order to maintain his life. The way this is done is through eating and drinking. Apart from life,…
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When Jesus instituted the Supper, He told His disciples to continue to ?do this?Eas a memorial of Him. The ?this?Eis not only the eating and drinking, but the whole ritual, which includes the moment when the bread is broken. In making this part of the rite, Jesus was linking the…
Our confession that we believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, is foundational to everything in Christian faith, but it is a serious error to limit God?s creativity to the original act of creation. Such a view is implicitly Deist: Deists think that God created the…
Obsession with sacraments and liturgy seems ?catholic?Eto many in our day, but it will not be news to anyone who has read and absorbed Schaff ?s Principle of Protestantism that these concerns were near the heart of the Reformation. Over a century ago, Schaff had grasped that the Reformation was…
David Noel Freedman ‘s book, The Unity of the Hebrew Bible contains a number of fascinating and compelling suggestions about the structure of the OT. 1) He suggests that the Hebrew Bible can be neatly divided into 4 sections of almost equal length: Torah, 5 books, 80,000 words Former prophets,…
NT Wright gives a characteristically stimulating overview of Rom 5-8 as a retelling of the exodus narrative. Here are some of the key elements of his interpretation: 1) He begins with the observation that Rom 8 describes the church’s future inheritance of the cosmos. The cosmos will be transformed at…
As many commentators have suggested (Douglas Moo most clearly), there is an inclusio around Romans 5-8 that shows it is a distinct unit. Below are some of the key words shared between 5:1-11 and 8:14-39, with some comments: 1) DIKAIOO: “justify”: 5:1, 9; 6:7; 8:30, 33: This verb, prominent in…
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