Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
After Elijah’s battered and depressed howling in the wilderness it must have seemed like the new prophet came eating and drinking. Which is a pattern we see again in the New Testament—John is explicitly identified with Elijah (Luke 1.17, Matthew 11.14), howling the truth in the wilderness that the people…
Reading Robert Conquest’s biography of Stalin 1 has opened new lines of meditation on Paul’s command in Colossians 3:9. But before turning to that, let me briefly indicate what Paul is not saying. He is not saying that there is no such thing as righteous deception, such as Jael practiced…
You won’t find wild lions today in Israel. But lions used to range much more widely than they do now, and in biblical times they were a menace that shepherds in Israel had to contend with. David did as a shepherd boy, and Amos—who “ was among the sheepbreeders of…
I would like to remedy a flaw for English speakers in the book of Genesis. A flaw that may seem innocuous, but we must remember where the devil lives...in the details. If we are to fear the Lord, it behooves our translation committees to ensure that the fearfulness of God…
While reading at my son’s baseball game this week, a mom from our school approached me and asked if I was reading Dante. I wasn’t, but our sons are both reading Divine Comedy in their sophomore literature class, so it was a reasonable question. What unfolded was a quick conversation…
In the first two essays in this series, I addressed the question of how the nations would learn about Israel’s Torah, in the second essay especially emphasizing the aesthetic aspects of Israel’s testimony. For we naturally wonder: How would people in Mesopotamia or Egypt, not to mention the rest of…
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"The First Amendment’s religious liberty provisions make no sense except on the supposition that God exists - that such a thing as religious truth exists and that the commands of true religious faith are real and superior to the commands of civil society." This is the thesis of a 2013…
Adam S. Miller begins his editorial introduction to Fleeing the Garden (vii-ix) by observing the confusions that surround the terms "literal" and "figurative" in biblical interpretation: "the word literal often just functions as shorthand for the claim that the text refers to something real. In such cases, the word is…
In her introduction to Ratzinger's Faith , Tracey Rowland contrasts the emphases of John Paul II and those of Benedict XVI with regard to what each called the "culture of death." Though neither is a dualist, John Paul focused more on the destruction of bodies while Benedict called attention to…
One of the students at the recent Theopolis course on covenant epistemology nailed the theme of the week. It was a week-long re-initiation into childhood, led by an authoritative guide in childlikeness, Esther Meek. Covenant epistemology calls us to be childlike in our unfeigned delight in the world, childlike in…
Look at the birds. Look at the lilies. Jesus meant what He said: Look, actually look. Look in order to address anxiety about food, clothing, shelter, and other necessities of life. When you look at the birds, you realize that God provides food. When you look at the lilies, you…
Some highlights from this past week's Theopolis course on "covenant epistemology," taught by Esther Meek. 1) Using the journey of the Magi as a paradigm of knowing, Esther described knowledge as a venture or adventure, a pilgrimage toward a gift. That is a lovely description that nicely captures much of…
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