Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
One of the curiosities of the New Testament revelation is its focus on Galilee. The region of Galilee was given to Asher, Zebulun, Naphtali, and Issachar, and the events of Judges 4-8 occurred there, so it had some importance in Israelite history. But when the tribe of Ephraim led the…
Numbers 3:40-51 tells us that the Levites were substituted for the firstborn of Israel. The firstborn belonged to God, as stated in Exodus 13:12-13 and 22:29. It is clear that the first group of firstborn claimed by God were those He saved at the first Passover (Ex. 12). These should…
I have lived and worked in Presbyterian circles since I became convinced of the Reformed faith over twenty years ago. Thus, it is easiest and most appropriate for me to issue criticisms and to call for reformation in the Presbyterian churches. Both Scripture and my own experience, and my observation…
And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory...(John 1:14) Commentaries on John, discussing the Word or Logos in John 1, routinely turn to Greek philosophy and say that John is using a term and at least part of an idea familiar in the ancient…
John Wenham’s Redating Matthew, Mark & Luke: A Fresh Assault on the Synoptic Problem 1 is an impressively detailed treatment of the "synoptic problem." I lack both the patience and the knowledge to evaluate Wenham’s contribution to that vexing question. My purpose instead is to summarize his conclusions concerning the…
Commentators do not agree on the contents of the Book of Seven Seals (Revelation 5:1). Some see it as the New Covenant; others as the whole Word of God; others as the book of life; and others as the record of the Old Creation that is now being brought to…
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When a storm breaks out at sea on a voyage to Tarshish, the sailors want to know who Jonah is. He tells them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh God of heaven who made the sea and dry land” (Jonah 1:9; Hebrew for “the dry” is yabbashah ).…
Psalm 101 begins as praise to the Lord (v. 1), but it quickly becomes a description of David's reign as king. He thinks of his royal house, and his rule, as a replica of Yahweh's palace and His rule. One must be pure to enter the courts of Yahweh, and…
In an essay entitled “The World is Not Flat,” sociologist Stephen Warner describes his growing realization of the limits of sociological theories of religion. Initially attracted to the “sacred canopy” ideas of Berger and Luckman, he came to the insight that the theories were forged from European rather than American…
I n a seminal 2001 essay, Fenggang Yang and Helen Rose Ebaugh studied 13 Houston-area religious institutions to discover how the religious lives of new immigrants are changed by their move to America. They discovered three processes: The congregations adapt “in organizational structure and ritual”; they return to “theological foundations”;…
To our modern democratic ear, “King of kings, Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14; 19:16) sounds redundant. It's not. The two superlatives are drawn from quite different contexts. Yahweh is “Lord of lords” (Deuteronomy 10:17; Psalm 136:3). But the only figures described as “king of kings” in the…
We are the temple of the living God, Paul says (2 Corinthians 6:16), and he supports the claim with a string of quotations. God says, “I will dwell in them and walk among them” (Exodus 29:45). He says, “I will be their God and they shall be My people” (Genesis…
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