Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
After the identification of the recipients of his letter at the beginning of Revelation, John gives a benediction that resembles the benedictions of the Pauline letters. He pronounces grace/favor and peace, grace and favor that lead to peace, grace that leads to fullness and harmony that is the biblical definition…
Throughout the latter half of 1-2 Samuel, Saul and David are locked in hand-to-hand combat. It seems an unequal contest. All the heavy artillery is on Saul's side. To understand the full scope of the conflict, we need to back up to the beginning of the book. Prior to Saul's…
Last week, I lectured at Ostrog Academy in Ostrog, Ukraine, and at a pastors' conference in Kyiv. The latter was co-sponsored by Trinity House and the Alliance of Reformed Churches in Ukraine. I offer my impressions of Ukraine this morning at Firstthings.com .
Why do I bristle when I see someone with white wires hanging from his ears, flipping through what must be a million songs downloaded onto his iPod? No doubt, it’s the threat of the new. I've only recently begun carrying a cell phone, and now I hear tell of compact…
Judah is in terrible shape (Isaiah 57). Yahweh told Israel to worship Him only at the temple, but the people worship on every hill and under every green and leafy tree. He commanded them to worship Him alone, but they are devoted to many gods. Worshipers set up their beds…
Like any great writer, the Lord foreshadows late happenings in early happenings. Like many greater writers, the Lord ends where he begins, returning to a glorified Edenic city-sanctuary at the end of his cosmic story. The Lord writes with history, real people and events, not merely with words. But His…
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Revelation uses the verb “descend” ( katabaino ) ten times, often with the specification that something descends “from heaven.” Cities come down from the sky, and angels, and dragons, and fire. The ten uses of the verb are in a fairly neat chiastic pattern: A. New Jerusalem will descend, 3:12…
More grist for the discussion of Protestantism and writing, taken from my review of Lori Branch, Rituals of Spontaneity . See the whole review here . Focusing on English literary culture and religion, Branch examines the formation of an “ideology of spontaneity” from the Reformation attacks on ritual through Puritan…
“We must continue to develop nonmythological narratives that synthesize and interpret our experience. These narratives must be based on the facts as we currently know them,” argues Scott Gustafson in At the Altar of Wall Street . He thinks Marx and Schumpeter offer some coordinates for a “demythologizing” of economics…
What does Trump do if he loses the Iowa caucuses today? asks Michael Kruse over at Politico . Kruse says that he will do what he always does: “He will deny and distort and belittle his critics and change the subject. He will say that he won.” Paul Holmes, who…
Twice in Revelation, John sees a rider on a white horse. The first comes in response to a call from the lion cherub and the Lamb's opening of the first seal (Revelation 6:1-2). He is alone, has a bow and receives a crown as he goes out conquering and to…
My two-part essay on why Protestants can't write got a lot more attention last week than it did when first published in Credenda/Agenda . Clarifications are in order. Behind the bluster, bombast, and hyperbole of the essay lie an assumption, an assertion, and an argument. The assumption is that liturgy…
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