Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
We lost Crimea. That is very clear. Putin proved he was not lying when he said he would place women and children ahead of his soldiers to storm Ukrainian military bases. Russian soldiers did exactly that with women (some who volunteered and some who were forced). Russia now occupies all…
Sound is an indicator of life and energy. “Sound signals the present use of power, since sound must be in active production to exist at all.” Things don’t have to be alive to make themselves visible, and “a primitive hunter can see, feel, smell, and taste an elephant when the…
In the most famous section of his best-known novel, Dostoevsky’s Ivan Karamazov brings forward his case against God. He opens with a horrific litany of outrages against children. Turkish soldiers make a baby laugh and then shoot a pistol into his face. A little girl is beaten, thrashed, kicked by…
At the heart of Esther Lightcap Meek's splendid Little Manual for Knowing is a concept she picked up from Michael Polanyi, "subsidiary-focal integration." The concept begins from the insight that all our knowing, all our experience, is double. We focus on something, but we are capable of "indwelling" that focal…
Jesus promises the overcomers of Pergamum "hidden manna" and a "white stone." The hidden manna is often linked with the manna stashed away in the ark of the covenant. The white stone has proved more elusive. Exodus tells us that manna was white (Exodus 16:31) and like bdellium (Numbers 11:7),…
Leviticus 23 begins with a reference to “Yahweh’s appointed times” ( mo’ade-YHWH ). Mo’ed is the common term for the feasts of Israel. A few dimensions to this term. First, it means “appointed time” or “designated time.” It is a time set by Yahweh. Yahweh has claimed certain times as…
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Wright on Colossians 2:8: He points out that Paul uses the rare verb sylagogein (“to take captive”) because “it makes a contemptuous pun with the word synagogue.” Paul’s warning is not just about those who would take captive, but about the temptation to lapse back into old covenant modes and…
Reflecting on Colossians 1:19-20, NT Wright notes that the incarnation and cross were not “undertaken with reluctance or merely because there was no other course. God not only acted in this way: he ‘took pleasure’ in doing so.” Much popular atonement theology suggests otherwise: The conflict between God’s mercy and…
Alan Wolfe, announcing the end of the culture wars with the election of Obama, accuses the South of voting against Obama because Southerners are racists: “The single most disturbing aspect of last night’s election is the transformation of the Republican Party into the party of the Confederacy. Yes, Republicans remain…
Ruth 2:10: Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, Since I am a foreigner? As Toby pointed out last week, the book of Ruth appears in the “writings” section of the Hebrew Bible, right after Proverbs. If you were reading the Old…
We who believe the Bible is God’s word hear this slander all the time: How can you believe a Bible that permits slavery? How can you worship a God who gave Israel the harsh, dehumanizing, bloodthirsty law of Moses? Our response should be to show them the actual Torah. The…
Fenn again, reflecting on the serpent’s temptation: “The Word of God is ‘solid,’ whereas all other words are slippery at best and may be downright empty or misleading. But one only knows the word as solid if one is in a solid relationship to the author: a relationship of trust…
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