Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
John 18, 19: Latter Prophets and the Writings John 18 and 19 record the arrest, trial, torture, and death of Jesus as laid out in detail in Isaiah 53. After the Roman soldier pierces Jesus’ side, John quotes Zechariah: “They shall look at him whom they pierced” (Zech 12:10). In…
John 12.12 – John 17: Latter Prophets In the Hebrew Scriptures, Kings is followed by the Latter Prophets. John 12:15 quotes Zechariah 9:9 as having prophesied Jesus’ triumphal entry: “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” [1] N.T. Wright…
John 6.16-70: Joshua The book of Joshua documents the nation of Israel entering the Promised Land. Consider the order of events: (1) Israel is still receiving the daily miracle of manna; (2) Israel miraculously crosses the Jordan on dry foot; (3) The day after Passover , Israel eats produce of…
Since my educational and professional training have revolved around story and narrative structure, I approach John’s Gospel from a literary and narrative perspective. In doing so, I have noticed structural story patterns and followed them where they seem to lead: the Gospel of John parallels the ordering of the books…
The Mt. Sinai Hospital was neolithic on the black hill of Hollow, New Hampshire. Winter dampened the trees and the wind bit at the sparse branches, the sidewalks and stairs were perilous with soggy leaves, and the dim yellow light cast a pallor upon the milky stone building. Ambling inside…
The Revelation can only be understood in the light of Old Testament symbols and sequences. The same is true of the epistle of Jude, which serves as a blistering hors d’oeuvre to John’s fiery feast. Possibly written by the apostle Judas Thaddaeus (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13; John 14:22), the epistle…
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Painter Wassily Kadinsky complained about the materialism of modern life: “Only just now awakening after years of materialism, our soul is infected with the despair born of unbelief, of lack of purpose and aim. The nightmare of materialism, which turned life into an evil, senseless game, is not yet passed;…
Pierre Boulez’s total serialism depended, in the words of Jeremy Begbie, “on the rigorous organization of music through the use of strict mathematical patterns.” The results were, Begbie says, “extremely dull, indeed, some of the most tedious ever written.” Around the same time, John Cage was composing “chance music,” made,…
Calvin says “The whole world is a theater for the display of the divine goodness, wisdom, justice, and power, but the Church is the orchestra, as it were - the most conspicuous part of it.”
Calvin interprets Titus 3:5 as a baptismal passage. Baptism is a sign and pledge of God’s mercy that signifies and pledges this mercy by ingrafting the baptized into the church: “The train of thought of the passage is this: ‘God saves us by his mercy and he has given us…
In his recent book on image and word in Calvin, Randall Zachman describes Calvin’s shifting views on ordination. Early on, he sarcastically rejects the notion that the laying of hands in the Roman Church constitutes a sacrament. By 1543, however, he has changed both his tone and his position. He…
Idols have mouths, but don’t speak. But the fear of the prophets is that Yahweh might be the same. Evil abounds in Israel and the nations, yet Yahweh does nothing and says nothing. If Yahweh is silent in the face of evil, how does he differ from the gods of…
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