Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Gambling The Bible nowhere condemns gambling, and so we need to be careful in our assessment of it. Let me begin by making a strong case against gambling. Then I will surprise most readers by pointing out that gambling may not always be sinful. The reader should bear in mind…
Tim Powers, The Stress of Her Regard (Ace Books, 1991). Reviewed by Jeffrey Meyers. Tim Power’s latest novel is now available in paperback. The story is set in early nineteenth century England and Italy, in the world of the poets John Keats, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron. Michael Crawford, a…
A close supporter of Biblical Horizons asks whether it is proper and wise to get involved in all the boycotts that Christians are being asked to observe today. She raises the point that Paul’s advice about eating meat sacrificed to idols seems relevant to the discussion. I think she is…
Solomon began to build the Temple of the Lord in the fourth year of his reign, which was 480 years after Israel came out of Egypt, the year A.M. 2993 (1 Kings 6:1). Seven years later, in the year A.M. 3000, the Temple building was finished (1 Kings 6:38). The…
Several months back, a candidate for ordination was being examined for entrance into the Presbytery of which I am a member. The candidate had a good deal of trouble with the exam on the sacraments, stumbling badly as he tried to define the "nature of the sacrament." Apparently in an…
Exploring the influence of televangelism on American religion in his book, The Struggle for America’s Soul , Princeton sociologist Robert Wuthnow presents a typical, though hypothetical, case study: Mabel Miller. Mabel lives alone, thousands of miles from her family. She grew up in a Baptist Church, but now, approaching 65,…
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There are a couple of fairly clear chiasms in Luke 12: Verses 1-12 work out this way: A. Leaven of Pharisees, v 1 B. Hidden will be revealed, vv 2-3 C. Do not fear those who kill body, v 4 D. Fear the one who has authority to cast into…
I mentioned Virginia Postrel’s book “The Substance of Style” some time ago, having read a review in The Atlantic. I’ve now had a chance to look at the book, and it is a bracing, forcefully contrarian book in defense of the “aesthetic moment” that we are in in popular culture.…
Exhortation for November 2: On the eve of the Reformation, the church was more geographically limited than it had been for a millennium, and it was on the defensive. Long before, Christianity been forced underground in its birthplace in the Middle East, and had been routed by Islam throughout North…
I’ve been running a little experiment: Working on Romans 2, I’m trying to determine who Paul’s interlocutor is, whether that can even be determined at all. Is he addressing a Jew or a Gentile or a colorless hypothetical human-in-general? My suspicion is that it’s a Jew, and one hint of…
I’ve been running a little experiment: Working on Romans 2, I’m trying to determine who Paul’s interlocutor is, whether that can even be determined at all. Is he addressing a Jew or a Gentile or a colorless hypothetical human-in-general? My suspicion is that it’s a Jew, and one hint of…
“To the Jew first”: The first time this is used in Romans, it’s good news for Jews, because Paul says that the gospel is the power of God to salvation to the Jew first (1:18). The next time he uses the phrase, things are a bit different. He has been…
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