Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
“And it shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land,” declares the Lord, “they shall say no more, ‘The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.’ And it shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they miss it, nor…
Elsewhere, I have argued that there is grace in the so-called covenant of works (see, e.g., my colloquium essay, “A Response to ‘The Biblical Plan of Salvation,’” in The Auburn Avenue Theology: Pros and Cons , edited by Calvin Beisner (pages 118-148). It may be equally surprising to find justice…
Years ago, as a layman, I had the privilege of attending a Bible study led by a gifted teacher. His story was interesting: back when he was a student he had been severely sanctioned for affirming that one must repent in order to be saved, that one must trust Jesus…
Believing that God really exists Defining “faith” is sometimes made too complicated. The theologian, Louis Berkhof, for example, distinguishes “faith in general” from “faith in the religious sense and particularly saving faith.” Berkhof’s core definition of saving faith is not so bad. He says that it is “a certain conviction,…
It is generally acknowledged that when Paul wrote letters to churches, he expected his letters to be read in the worship service to the congregation. It is interesting, then, that when Paul wrote letters to a congregation he could feel free to address children and tell them to obey their…
Book 4 of Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion is a classic work of ecclesiology. This book is the longest section of the Institutes , showing Calvin’s deep interest in and love for the church. Among its many salutary features is a full scale exposition of those ecclesiastical leaders Calvin…
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Phillip Johnson reports on the scandal concerning the peppered moth in the December 2003 issue of Touchstone . It’s a pretty grim story, recently told by Judith Hooper in Of Moths and Men . What Johnson calls the “juiciest” scandal “is that the moths, which are nocturnal, do not rest…
I believe that some time ago I made the connection between Derrida’s “supplement at the origin,” tragedy, and conceptions of the relation of nature and culture. In some systems of thought, culture is a “supplement” to nature and participates in all the problems that Derrida brings out with supplementarity. That…
Exum quotes Arthur Miller on tragedy, and Miller I think gets things quite right: “It matters not at all whether a hero falls from a great height or a small one, whether he is highly conscious or only dimly aware of what is happening, whether his pride brings the fall…
Cheryl Exum’s Tragedy and Biblical Narrative (Cambridge, 1992) argues that there is a “tragic” dimension to the Bible, but in offering her initial explorations she actually seems to be supporting something like the opposite conclusion. 1) She stresses the importance of struggle against fate/gods/God as a key element of tragedy:…
As I’ve considered Hafeman’s take on future and present justification (summarized in an earlier post), I’ve come to have some important reservations. First, as I noted at the time, Hafeman’s construction leaves me uncertain about the role of union with Christ. This problem is fixable, I think: Our union with…
The November 15 Science News has a brief review of a multi-author book entitled Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children Really Learn and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less . The review states that the authors “encourage parents to allow children to learn problem solving…
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