Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Gambling The Bible nowhere condemns gambling, and so we need to be careful in our assessment of it. Let me begin by making a strong case against gambling. Then I will surprise most readers by pointing out that gambling may not always be sinful. The reader should bear in mind…
Tim Powers, The Stress of Her Regard (Ace Books, 1991). Reviewed by Jeffrey Meyers. Tim Power’s latest novel is now available in paperback. The story is set in early nineteenth century England and Italy, in the world of the poets John Keats, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron. Michael Crawford, a…
A close supporter of Biblical Horizons asks whether it is proper and wise to get involved in all the boycotts that Christians are being asked to observe today. She raises the point that Paul’s advice about eating meat sacrificed to idols seems relevant to the discussion. I think she is…
Solomon began to build the Temple of the Lord in the fourth year of his reign, which was 480 years after Israel came out of Egypt, the year A.M. 2993 (1 Kings 6:1). Seven years later, in the year A.M. 3000, the Temple building was finished (1 Kings 6:38). The…
Several months back, a candidate for ordination was being examined for entrance into the Presbytery of which I am a member. The candidate had a good deal of trouble with the exam on the sacraments, stumbling badly as he tried to define the "nature of the sacrament." Apparently in an…
Exploring the influence of televangelism on American religion in his book, The Struggle for America’s Soul , Princeton sociologist Robert Wuthnow presents a typical, though hypothetical, case study: Mabel Miller. Mabel lives alone, thousands of miles from her family. She grew up in a Baptist Church, but now, approaching 65,…
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Inspired by Balthasar, Kevin Vanhoozer, Sam Wells and others, many theologians are working within a theatrical model of theology and theological ethics. The theatrical turn has some classical roots (e.g., Calvin’s idea of the world as the theater of God’s glory), but recent work has pressed the model much further…
There’s much to like in Iain Provan’s Seriously Dangerous Religion . The book presents the Bible’s answers to a set of ten perennial questions about the world, God, sexes, evil, creation, society, hope. He compares the biblical answers to the answers of other religions and worldviews, including Western modernity. Though…
John sees four living creatures in the midst of and around the Lord’s throne. They are the cherubim who form the throne (Revelation 4:6b-7). They are full of eyes, so they can look every which way as they guard the holiness of the Lord’s presence (v. 6b). But we never…
Theodore Jennings is death on forensic justification ( Outlaw Justice , 62): “So-called forensic justification had God declaring people to be just who manifestly are not just., thereby vitiating the claim of justice itself.” This violates the whole thrust of Paul’s argument in Romans, Jennings thinks: “It would be difficult…
Carl Trueman offers an irenic response to our conversation about the future at Protestantism last week. One key difference between us is this: Carl thinks that unity is a “desirable” goal. I think that’s far too weak a way to capture the New Testament’s teaching. Unity is an evangelical demand…
I appreciate Brad Littlejohn’s dispassionate report on our conversation about the future of Protestantism. I most appreciated his recognition that my argument rested on a reading of the biblical narrative. I learned from Jim Jordan long ago that the Bible presents a narrative of repeated creations, repeated deaths, repeated rebirths.…
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