Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Russian Orthodox liturgist Alexander Schmemann died in 1983, but his importance continues to grow, sometimes in surprising ways. A Russian transplanted to Paris and then to Crestwood, New York, he was an acute observer of the American religious scene. He possessed the clarity of vision the Spirit often grants to…
This is the fifth in a series of studies of Deuteronomy 22:3-23:8. "A bastard ( mazmer ) shall not enter into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation shall none of his enter into the assembly of Yahweh" (Deuteronomy 23:2). [i] The translation “bastard” here for mazmer ,…
The Enlightenment project is very comprehensible in terms of the “Wars of Religion” that followed the Reformation. It's questionable whether all that is said about the Wars of Religion is entirely fair (R. J. Rushdoony’s Christian Survey of World History has some very helpful things to say about this). Still,…
The fourth in a series of studies on Deuteronomy 22:30-23:8. One wounded by crushing, or cut in the member shall not enter into the assembly of Yahweh (Deuteronomy 23:1. [i] The translation of this verse varies in different English versions. The basic idea is clear enough, however: a eunuch is…
Trinity House President Peter Leithart will give a lecture on violence at the 2013 Wheaton Theology Conference later this week.
The third in a series of studies on Deuteronomy 22-23. This continues the second essay, which examines Deuteronomy 22:30: "A man shall not take his father’s wife, and shall not uncover his father’s wing" (Hebrew: kanaf ). The Sin of Ham Another story would almost certainly occur to an ancient…
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“Christian life is an impossible newness given as an unfitting gift,” writes John Barclay in his contribution to Apocalyptic Paul . Since it is a gift, the “new competence” of believers “is wholly dependent on the life of Christ, present within” (73-74). But it’s important to specify what that gift…
In a 2007 essay reprinted in his Pauline Perspectives , NT Wright gives this tight and quite wonderful summary of what Paul says about the cross in Romans 5-8. He is correct about Paul and largely correct in his criticisms of traditional atonement theologies. He observes that the opening section…
Atonement theology has drawn heavily from Paul, also from the Passion narratives. In drawing on the Passion narratives, atonement theology often makes an allegorical transition from the specifics of the narrative to a more general narrative setting of “all humanity,” even a cosmic setting. Thus, when Jesus says He lays…
In a study of Barth and Hegel on liberation and atonement ( Christ Crucified in a Suffering World ), Nathan Hieb notes that Barth defends the traditional ascription of iustitia distributiva to God, the justice “by which God distinguishes between right and wrong human action and on this basis approves…
The flavor of this is somewhat too Girardian, but still an excellent statement of the Spirit’s anti-Satanic role from Mark Heim ( Saved from Sacrifice , 156): “Satan sows discord, flames the mimetic rivalries and animosities among persons that can blow up into social crisis, and then encourages the persecutory…
Everybody loves Jesus. Gandhi loves Jesus. The Dali Lama loves Jesus. Everybody thinks Jesus just the best. Not exactly everyone, because some thugs hated Him enough to kill Him. But now we see their error, and everybody loves Jesus. But many of those who love Jesus don’t believe He rose…
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