Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Inspired by the “Moscow Mood” Debate In a shocking 1961 study, Yale psychologist Stanley Milgram would don an official-looking white lab coat and tell a volunteer to administer increasing shocks to another “volunteer” in an adjacent room strapped into an “electric chair” just out of sight. The shocks were incrementally…
My title and the substance of the article are borrowed from a section of David Wenham’s excellent book, Paul: Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity? I am appropriating ideas from the pages in his book which address the question, “Why Does Paul refer to Jesus’ Life and Ministry so…
Some of us may be familiar with the notion that the epistle of James is like a New Testament version of Proverbs or other wisdom literature. According to this line of thinking, the epistle of James (together with the other wisdom literature) is basically a collection of timeless sayings without…
This summer I started walking a long trail that ran north from our home. On my best days, I would walk a total of five miles at a brisk pace. This trail follows the power lines that serve a significant portion of North Dallas and stretches far past the two…
I am an Australian. I went to the American Academy of Religion mega-fest last year to meet up with some friends, to present a paper at a ‘science and religion’ panel, and to marvel at the sheer scale of how Americans do things. It was quite a ride. Looking at…
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 We evangelicals do not often understand the roles of men and women in ministry. Because our consumerist culture has gutted the notion of family as it was historically understood, all Biblical passages about women in church ministry (a familial organism) are almost incomprehensible to…
Showing page 19 of 309
Showing page 7 of 43
Somewhat surprisingly, the first references to golden crowns in the Bible do not refer to kings but to priests. The high priest has a “crown of pure gold,” a “holy crown” on his turban (Exodus 39:30; Leviticus 8:9). Even as late as Zechariah 6:11, the silver and gold crown is…
David v. Goliath is the ultimate one-on-one showdown. By the end of 2 Samuel, though, that single combat has expanded. Goliath has four relatives: Ishbi-benob (2 Samuel 21:16); Saph (v. 18); Lahmi (v. 19; cf. 1 Chronicles 20:5); and a giant with twenty-four fingers and toes (v. 20). Goliath is…
In one of the loveliest images in the Bible, David describes the just rulers as “the light of the morning when the sun rises / a morning without clouds / the tender grass out of the earth / through sunshine after rain” (2 Samuel 23:3). What might this mean? Rulers…
Smoke ascends from the abyss, and out of the smoke come creatures that look like locusts but sting like scorpions (Revelation 9). John gives an extended seven- or eight-part description (vv. 7-10): 1) Appearance as horses. 2) Crowns of gold on head. 3) Faces like faces of men. 4) Hair…
I watched Disney’s Old Yeller (1957) with my youngest daughter the other night, and was left marveling at the effortlessness of it all. Though it’s nearly 50 years old, it doesn’t seem dated, partly because it’s a frontier movie whose setting was long outdated even when it was made. The…
Douglas Campbell argues convincingly that pistis in Galatians 3 has a christological sense ( Deliverance of God , 867-75). It seems an irrefutable point. In an extended footnote, Campbell deals with Moises Silva’s interpretation of the term in Galatians 3, which wobbles between christological interpretation and something else. Silva says…
Showing page 505 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
