Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
After the identification of the recipients of his letter at the beginning of Revelation, John gives a benediction that resembles the benedictions of the Pauline letters. He pronounces grace/favor and peace, grace and favor that lead to peace, grace that leads to fullness and harmony that is the biblical definition…
Throughout the latter half of 1-2 Samuel, Saul and David are locked in hand-to-hand combat. It seems an unequal contest. All the heavy artillery is on Saul's side. To understand the full scope of the conflict, we need to back up to the beginning of the book. Prior to Saul's…
Last week, I lectured at Ostrog Academy in Ostrog, Ukraine, and at a pastors' conference in Kyiv. The latter was co-sponsored by Trinity House and the Alliance of Reformed Churches in Ukraine. I offer my impressions of Ukraine this morning at Firstthings.com .
Why do I bristle when I see someone with white wires hanging from his ears, flipping through what must be a million songs downloaded onto his iPod? No doubt, it’s the threat of the new. I've only recently begun carrying a cell phone, and now I hear tell of compact…
Judah is in terrible shape (Isaiah 57). Yahweh told Israel to worship Him only at the temple, but the people worship on every hill and under every green and leafy tree. He commanded them to worship Him alone, but they are devoted to many gods. Worshipers set up their beds…
Like any great writer, the Lord foreshadows late happenings in early happenings. Like many greater writers, the Lord ends where he begins, returning to a glorified Edenic city-sanctuary at the end of his cosmic story. The Lord writes with history, real people and events, not merely with words. But His…
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When Christians warn that the adoption of same-sex marriage laws will lead to persecution of traditional Christians, secularists think we’re being hysterical. But then the mayor of Houston subpoenas sermons from pastors who have addressed homosexuality from the pulpit. And the Idaho couple that runs a wedding chapel in beautiful…
Tamara Jacoby reports at the Atlantic on the important role that apprenticeship or “dual training” (classroom and on-the-job) programs play in equipping European workers. She acknowledges that the US has its own tradition of apprenticeship, but adds: “like most kinds of vocational education, it fell out of fashion in recent…
The incarnation without the cross and exaltation doesn’t accomplish salvation. But the incarnation ain’t nothing. As Adam Kotsko says in his treatment of Irenaeus ( The Politics of Redemption , 78), “the Incarnation of Christ simply taken in itself brings God into a much more intimate relationship with humanity, accustoming…
Matthew Levering has a delightful summary of Thomas’s delightful description of the resurrection body as subtle, agile, and full of “clarity” ( Christ’s Fulfillment of Torah and Temple , 133-4). Subtlety, Levering explains, is “the ability of the body to penetrate.” Bodies will remain bodies, but “the penetration of glorified…
For Thomas, the Torah was not simply another secular constitution. It was divine law, aimed at establishing not merely order or even justice but at encouraging charity. Thomas was echoing Jesus in his stress on the weightier things of the law - justice, mercy, truth. As Matthew Levering ( Christ’s…
Discussing Christ as the end of the law in his preface to Pierre-Robert Olivetan’s translation of the New Testament, Calvin writes: “Therefore, when you hear that the gospel presents you Jesus Christ in whom all the promises and gifts of God have been accomplished; and when it declares that he…
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