Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
John the Baptist says, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me . . . will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Mt. 3:11).” Much debate surrounds the nature of this statement and what exactly it prophesies. Sacramental, baptistic, and charismatic Christians…
First Corinthians is not considered one of the Pastoral Epistles, but there is much to learn from Paul about pastoring a congregation by the way he writes to the Corinthians. Briefly, 1 Corinthians is an exposition of the cross and resurrection. In the first fourteen chapters, Paul gives an exposition…
Fredrik Hagglund ( Isaiah 53 in the Light of Homecoming After Exile (Forschungen Zum Alten Testament) ) argues against the common notion that Isaiah 53 is about the atoning suffering of Yahweh’s Servant. The Servant’s suffering is vicarious (i.e., he suffers for the sins of others) but it is not…
With the inheritance of Canaan and the dividing up of this priestly territory among the tribes, Israel became a microcosm of the nations of the world. This division between Israel and the nations as a substitutionary “land and sea” would prevent another global rebellion, and thus another global judgment. ((For…
One of the more revealing aspects of Paul and James’ soteriology is the different ways they both use Genesis 15:6 (“And Abraham believed God and it was counted for him as righteousness,”) as a proof text to defend their comments about the gospel. The key observation to make is that…
The disintegration of the EU is not the end of the world. It is a sign that the end of the world is anything but nigh. Western culture as we know it is dying at the hands of usurpers, traitors and prodigals. Even the worst rulers throughout Christian history at…
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When John goes into heaven (Revelation 4-5), he enters a worship service. Four living creatures and twenty-four elders are engaged in a cycle of praise, including a version of the Sanctus and a proclamation of the worthiness of the Creator. When the Lamb appears and takes the book, the worshiping…
David Goldman (“Spengler”) is suitably appalled by the revelations of Peter Schweitzer's Clinton Cash . But he seen enough of global corruption to put the onus where it belongs: “What kind of people are we Americans, that we allow these kleptocrat’s hirelings to persist in public life? The answer, I…
Paul describes the church as a body animated by the Spirit - one body with many members, each member necessary to the health of the body, each making its unique contribution to the common good. It would be consistent with Paul's ecclesiology to use musical rather than somatic images. Each…
Raymond William Baker ( One Islam, Many Worlds of Muslims ) wants to reassure his Western readers. Islam's resurgence isn't mainly driven by extremists and terrorists, but by mainstream Islam of the Islamic renewal: “The source of Islam’s power derives from the far broader al Tagdid al Islami (Islamic Renewal).…
In an article on Revelation 14, David deSilva summarizes recent biblical work that employs a social-rhetorical mode of interpretation. He draws on Vernon Robbins's notion of “rhetography,” the ways in which texts create mental pictures in hearers and readers. This is not to dismiss the more common idea of verbal…
Culture is formed by cult. The liturgy is the first form of culture. What happens in the sanctuary shapes what happens outside. Rivers flow from Eden's garden to the four corners. A spring starts from the throne of God and flows to the Dead Sea, refreshing as it goes (Ezekiel…
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