Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
"Vanity of vanities", says the Preacher. "All is vanity". Life, we are told in the book of Ecclesiastes, is a repetitious, wearisome cycle; all that is and all that will be has already been. There is nothing new under the sun. What is crooked cannot be made straight, what is…
The Bible tells us that when God created the earth, He set up three zones of life. The first was the world itself. The second was the holy land of Eden. And the third was the Garden in Eden, God’s sanctuary. God told Adam and Eve that every tree was…
In our survey of Biblical chronology we have arrived at the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which provide chronological information for the period after the return from exile, the Restoration Period of Old Testament history. The question we begin to address in this essay is whether the Artaxerxes of these…
These verses from the Sermon on the Mount are generally taken in connection with Jesus’ earlier statement concerning adultery in the heart (vv. 27-28); the eye and the hand have obvious relevance to the sin of adultery. At the same time, most commentators admit that the principle of avoiding occasions…
17. The eye that mocks a father, And despises to obey a mother, The ravens of the valley will pick it out, And the young eagles will eat it. 18. There are three things that are too wonderful for me, Four that I do not understand: 19. The way of…
The modern Church in America and virtually everywhere else is ideology-centered, not geographical. This is because various Churches believe different things and have different customs of worship and sacraments. The ideological Church has gradually developed from the time of the Reformation, because accuracy of doctrine has become more important to…
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Protestants look back longingly to the Reformation as one of the great periods of church history, and it was in many respects. In terms of the global reach of Christianity, though, the sixteenth century was a low point. Since its beginning, Christianity has rarely been confined to so contracted an…
Peter Adamson (P hilosophy in the Hellenistic and Roman Worlds ) claims that “A good case can be made for seeing Plotinus as the most in fluential Western philosopher of all time, apart from Plato and Aristotle themselves.” He fused Plato with some of Aristotle's ideas, added Stoic concepts, to…
The fifth angel pours out his bowl on the “throne of the beast” (Revelation 16:10-110). There are a lot of beasts in Revelation. Which one is it? The fact that it is in the fifth slot gives us a clue. God created swarming things on earth and in the sea…
Deborah is the only female judge, and the only judge who does anything close to what we would recognizing as “judging.” She is a prophetess, and holds court sitting under a palm tree between Ramah and Bethel (Judges 4:5). She also does what the other Hebrew judges do - leads…
Peter Adamson finds some general trends in his forthcoming study of Philosophy in the Hellenistic and Roman Worlds . Hellenistic philosophy was broadly anti-Platonic, denying the existing of “immaterial entities” and devoted to physicalism. In one of his many moments of whimsy, Adamson suggests that the change is so sudden…
The subtitle of Gene Kritsky's forthcoming Tears of Re is “Beekeeping in Ancient Egypt.” The linkage of deity, mourning, and beekeeping is too tantalizing to pass up. The title is based on a myth found in a papyrus from about 300 BC: “The god Re wept and the tears from…
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