Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
A while back a friend told me that his church had finally introduced weekly communion. He told me that they were having an 8:00 a.m. service on Sundays for anyone who wanted to have communion. At present only about five people were coming to this service, but he was hopeful…
According to James B. Jordan’s outline of Deuteronomy, the first commandment section runs from 6:1 to 11:32, and the second commandment section begins with 12:1. 1 That this division of the text is sound is confirmed by a comparison of 6:1 with 12:1. Deuteronomy 6:1 announces that "this is the…
Calling Jerusalem the "holy city" comes so naturally to Christians that it comes as something of a surprise to realize how infrequently the phrase is used in Scripture. Not only is Jerusalem rarely called holy, but in the Old Testament this classification is found only in texts that refer to…
Nicodemus’s conversation with Jesus in John 3:1-15 is often regarded as an illustration of the tremendous stupidity of the Jews of our Lord’s day. Those who take the passage this way fail to recognize the profound nature of Nicodemus’s questions and of Jesus’ answers. In verse 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus…
In his book 1994? , Harold Camping asserts that the life spans of the primeval patriarchs of Genesis 5 & 11 were actually epochs, one after another. This together with other mistakes in interpretation yields for him a creation date of 11013 B.C. From here, Camping tries to work out…
I have received a number of letters asking for my comments on this difficult passage. Here is my best shot! 2. Now I praise you because you remember me in everything, and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. This statement opens a new section…
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I n a 2013 article in Augustinian Studies , Melanie Webb argues that Augustine challenged a deeply entrenched Roman and North African “heritage of valorized suicides” in his treatment of rape, shame, and suicide in the first book of City of God . That heritage included Christian writers, like Jerome…
It isn’t just Facebook. Over at Forbes.com , Parmy Olson explains how companies are not only gathering data from our computers and phones, but constantly subjecting us to tests. We have entered the Guinea Pig Economy, and everyone with an internet connection is part of the experiment: “Consumers have been…
Faith is inescapable. Trust is embedded, in various ways, in all human actions. We act in order to achieve certain results, aiming at expected consequences. When we act, we trust that the actions we perform will achieve those consequences. I turn the handle on my sink, trusting that the city’s…
Exodus and Acts seem to offer different accounts of Moses’ killing of the Egyptian. In Exodus, there’s an emphasis on the secrecy of the act. Moses sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, looks around to see if anyone is watching, then kills the Egyptian and buries him in the…
Naomi Baron’s Reading Onscreen argues that the value of digital reading depends on the kind of reading you’re doing: “digital reading is fine for many short pieces or for light content we don’t intend to analyze or reread.” But “eReading is less well suited for many longer works or even…
In his Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child , John Gottman describes “Emotion Coaching” in parenting. This involves involves acknowledging a child’s negative emotions, using those moments of negative emotion as an opportunity to teach and engage the child, listening, helping the child put labels on his feelings, and setting parameters…
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