Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The Book of Genesis contains eleven distinct markers readily acknowledged as the toledot formula. 1 Commentator Nahum Sarna counts the ’elleh toledot to be “…one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Book of Genesis”. 2 Among translations, the noun is variously translated as “generations” (ESV, KJV), “records of the generations”…
The answer that immediately comes to mind to the question in the title is Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah. He was conceived during the extension of life that God granted Hezekiah in response to his ardent prayer on his sick bed (2 Kings 20:1-11, 21:1). His reign is summarized in…
Back in 2019, on a whim, I sketched out a setting for a modern fantasy story: a single coffee shop that is simultaneously present in multiple cities throughout the world: “...you know the one. Books by local authors, brochures for a walking tour of the city’s outdoor sculpture, a poetry…
Peter O’Brien’s translation of Colossians 4:2 surprised me: “Persevere in prayer as you watch for the Lord’s return, and be thankful.” 1 What is surprising about that? Well, none of my English translations mentioned “the Lord’s return” — nor does the Greek text! Translated literally, the verse just says: “In…
I Natural Law This is a brief (well, briefer than it could be) first attempt at responding to a very small section of Stephen Wolfe’s recent book The Case for Christian Nationalism . It’s partial, deeply incomplete, and does not at all address the book as a whole; it is…
The scuttlebutt of the last hundred years would tell us that Albert Einstein was a horrible husband, Winston Churchill was a racist, Mother Theresa was a hypocrite, and Caravaggio a murderer. From Benjamin Britten’s boys to Gandhi’s girls, it can be depressing and confusing to hear about people of great…
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In a 1989 article in the European Journal of Sociology on the changing conceptions of friendship through history, Allan Silver comments on the relationship between uncertainty and trust: “Uncertainty about others cannot be eliminated on purely experiential grounds. Trust is meaningful precisely because others retain their capacity to act against…
In his recent Inerrancy and the Gospels: A God-Centered Approach to the Challenges of Harmonization , Vern Poythress emphasizes the personalism of the biblical worldview. There’s a Trinitarian root to this point: “Each person of the Trinity has his distinct personal perspective on knowledge. God the Father knows all things…
Isaiah 45 concludes with the declaration, “In Yahweh shall be justified and shall glory all the seed of Israel” (v. 25). The context makes it clear what this justification consists of: To be justified is to be delivered from exile, to be rescued from chains, to be the object of…
Yahweh does what He does to demonstrate His uniqueness, both to Cyrus and to everyone else. From the rising to the setting of the sun, men will know “none besides me, I myself Yahweh, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:6; Heb. ki-‘efes bil’aday ‘aniy yawh v’eyn ‘od ). Virtually…
Yahweh calls on the heavens to drop and the clouds to pour out the rain of righteousness. Justice drops from heaven, just like mercy (ask Portia!). The result is that the earth produces the fruit of salvation and justice (Isaiah 45:8). In a drought, nothing springs up from the earth;…
Psalm 80 is addressed to the “shepherd ( ra’ah ) of Israel,” Yahweh, who leads Joseph like a flock. The Psalm is a lament; instead of bringing the flock of Israel to green pastures, he pastures them with the bread of tears and makes them to drink tears. Worse, though…
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