Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
(continued from previous issue) Between 30 and 50 What did the Levites do between age 30 and 50? Numbers 4 shows us that they carried the house of God on their shoulders. Lifting up the Lord is an image of worship in the Bible, and David’s restructuring of the Levites…
When God created the world, He created two lands: the Throne-land of Eden (entered through the sanctuary-garden, the Garden of Eden), and the Outlying Lands, such as the lands of Havilah and Cush. This essentially bi-polar world is the world of the Old Creation, and it continued to exist until…
Color is inescapable, except for those who are color blind. In our church architecture, we either employ color schemes that are helpful to worship, or we employ color schemes that are not helpful. Of course, this assertion merely begs the question: What color schemes are most helpful. God showed interest…
As I noted in an earlier article in Rite Reasons , the Church Fathers Tertullian, Ambrose, and Augustine all claimed that baptism inducts the baptized person into membership in the royal priesthood of the church, and Thomas Aquinas said that baptism, by imprinting an indelible “character” on the soul, confers…
When the Aaronic priests were ordained, the blood of the ram of "filling” was placed on the lobe of the right ear, the right thumb, and the right big toe (Lev. 8:22-24). Similarly, the cleansing rite for a leper included smearing the right ear lobe, thumb, and big toe with…
In my Preliminary Commentary on Daniel , which many of you have obtained, I argued in chapter 13 that the four monsters called up from the sea by the evangelistic work of the four winds (the saints) represented the deep hatred of God that evangelistic work brings to the fore…
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Jesus’ “I am” sayings are usually linked with the revelation of the name of Yahweh on Sinai But Marianne Meye Thompson notes that there is also a large concentration of “I am” sayings in Isaiah 40-66, which are linked to the new exodus of Israel out of Babylonian exile. This…
Jean-Pierre Torrel writes of Thomas: “The Eastern Christians like to say of theology that it is doxology; Thomas would add some further clarifications to that, but he would not reject the intention: the joy of the Friend who is contemplated is completed in song.”
I am convinced by N. T. Wright and others that Jesus is not attacking the temple for financial impropriety. At the same time, economic abuses are certainly part of the evil that Jesus condemns. Jesus final scenes in the temple in Mark are framed by His condemnation of the temple…
The following is drawn largely from David Garland’s commentary on Mark. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem changes everything in His ministry. He has been moving about in secret, teaching in private, refusing to draw attention to Himself, speaking in coded parables. He cleanses a leper but then sternly warns him, “See…
Mark 11:9-10: Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “ Hosanna! ‘ Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” As Jesus…
The story of Palm Sunday is oddly anticlimatic. Jesus enters Jerusalem surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd that acclaims Him as the Son of David. We expect something to happen. Jesus will perform some stunning miracle that will finally convince His enemies. He will defeat them in debate and they will…
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