Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
As we move into the Persian period of ancient history, and try to reconcile it with Daniel’s prophecies, we need to ask some hard questions about the interpretation of the data before us. One question concerns the reliability of the Biblical witness, and beyond that a second question concerns the…
Ewa Majewska Thompson: Understanding Russia: The Holy Fool in Russian Culture Ewa M. Thompson is Professor and Chairman of the Department of German and Slavic Studies at Rice University. In this seminal study, she investigates the concept of the "holy fool" as it exists in Russian culture and civilization. While…
The most cursory glance at the history of Western literature reveals that it has been deeply influenced by the Bible. Some of the greatest classics of Western literature draw their plots, characters, and ideas largely from Scripture; Dante’s Divine Comedy and Milton’s Paradise Lost are two of the most notable…
Each time the Scriptures recount the story of Moses’ birth and deliverance from Pharaoh, reference is made to two facts about that event. First, each text points out that Moses was "beautiful." Second, each text points out that Amram and Jochebed, his parents, hid him for three months (cf. Ex.…
Click HERE for Part 1. The Message of the Covenant Can we really say that the saints presently rule the world, and always have since Noah? Look around and you can see that the wicked rule in virtually every country on earth. There are wicked civilizations that rise Babelically age…
As we saw last time , we have come to the place in the study of Biblical chronology where it seems that we are forced to abandon the Bible itself as our primary source of information. If we assume that the seventy sevens of Daniel 9:24-27 are in fact weeks…
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Radner ( A Brutal Unity: The Spiritual Politics of the Christian Church , 181) concludes a rich discussion of the biblical pattern of episcopal ministry with this: “The early Church’s, indeed the whole developed tradition’s, theological discussion of apostolic episcopacy stands generally to the side of discussions of jurisdiction, territorial…
Radner ( A Brutal Unity: The Spiritual Politics of the Christian Church , 33-4) analyzes the Rwandan genocide to unmask the church’s role in the bloodshed. Far from heading off potential violence, the deliberate practices of missionaries often created the conditions for a future holocaust. Catholic missionaries, for instance, adopted…
Separation is a result of sin. But Ephraim Radner points out ( A Brutal Unity: The Spiritual Politics of the Christian Church , 428) that “separation also lies at the center of creation: God separates, or literally ‘divides’ light and darkness, waters and earth (firmament), day and night (stars .…
The sea beast of Revelation 13 is clearly a composite of the beasts of Daniel. It has features of a lion, a bear, and a leopard, which match the first three beasts of Daniel’s vision. If we can import Daniel’s imagery into Revelation 13, we can say that the sea…
The sea beast of Revelation 13 entices everyone to worship him “whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb” (v. 8). Interpreters commonly take the book of life as an image of election: It is a list of…
The Jerusalem Council described in Acts 15 presents “a winning picture of open-ended discussion, leading to consensus, through the ‘facilitation’ of a leader and a faith in God’s more primary direction through the Spirit.” It is “a true ‘coming together of many minds’ in a way that has become a…
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