Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
My good friend, Jason Ewert, recently posted a review of Pastor Douglas Wilson’s book, Against the Church . Jason correctly notes that Pastor Wilson’s main pastoral motivation in writing this book is to combat dead orthodoxy. Dead orthodoxy is a real problem in Reformed churches that celebrate the primacy of…
At the church I pastor, we have four servers who distribute the communion elements to the congregation, and I distribute the elements to those in the foyer and nursery. The servers and I do not partake of the bread and wine until the congregation is served first. As this has…
We at Trinity House believe that the church ought to raise and train her future pastors. Part of that training may be carried out by specialized institutions like Trinity House, but the church and her leaders are ultimately responsible for that training. To encourage churches to assume that responsibility, Trinity…
Sandra Jacobs's The Body as Property examines the role of physical disfigurement in the Hebrew Bible, with focus on the Torah, and more specifically on the (fictitious) Priestly document, P. After an introduction laying out a rationale for the comparative method that guides her research, she explores circumcision, the use…
Yahweh saves. That’s what Isaiah’s name means, and that’s what Isaiah’s prophecy is about. Yah saves Judah when Aram and Israel pressure her. He saves Jerusalem from the Assyrian siege. He brings Judah back from the grave of Babylonian exile. But this triumphant message of Isaiah fizzles. The last few…
Are apostasy and assurance mutually exclusive? Some seem to think so. But let’s consider this a bit: No Reformed man would ever say that a man who is “saved” today will be safe forever no matter what . Rather we say, “your sins are forgiven, now, walk faithfully, glorify the…
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I published this review in 2017 when my blog was housed at Patheos. It's been buried on the Theopolis site, and it seemed a good time to exhume it. I made some additions and edits. R ichard Rothstein's Color of Law demonstrates that “until the last quarter of the twentieth…
I wrote the following essay in 2013, just after the Supreme Court's decision in Windsor. With the GOP capitulating (as I predicted ) on gay marriage, it's worth running again . Sudden as it seems to some, the Supreme Court’s endorsement of gay marriage in Windsor was a long time…
According to a common narrative, the Frankfurt School of critical theory, which flourished in the first half of the 20 th century, is the source of today’s cultural Marxism. Having failed to win over the proletariat, the story goes, the revisionary Marxists of Frankfurt – Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Walter…
The first twelve chapters of Isaiah form a chiasm: A. Lord’s opposition to Judah, 1:1-31 B. High things cut; Jerusalem restored, 2:1-4:6 C. Parable of Vineyard and woes, 5:1-30 D. Isaiah and Ahaz, 6:1-9:7 C’. “Hand stretched out”; woe, 9:8-10:4 B’. Woe to Assyrian axe, 10:5-32 A’. Restoration of Judah,…
1. “Shepherds” are royal , not priestly figures (Psalm 80:1). Moses, Joshua, and David are called shepherds, but not Aaron (Exodus 32:34 with Psalm 23:3; Numbers 27:17; Psalm 78:71-72; cf. Psalm 77:20). The Good Shepherd’s rod is iron (Revelation 2:27; 12:5; 19:15; cf. Psalm 2:7-9). 2. “Pastor” = “shepherd.” In…
Perry Marshall’s Evolution 2.0 is a devastating critique of Evolution 1.0, the neo-Darwinian theory Marshall summarizes in the equation, “Random mutation + natural selection + time = Evolution.” His critique focuses primarily on the “random mutation” factor. Scientists have experimented on fruit flies for decades. By causing mutations through radiation,…
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