Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Understanding Shakespeare’s Biblical references is vital for the interpretation of many, if not all, of Shakespeare’s plays. For Othello , it is especially important, not only because the interpretation of the play is contested among various approaches — feminist, homosexual, post-colonial, Marxist, Freudian, new historical, and others — but also…
Mike Allen of Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, scores some points in his review of The End of Protestantism . He lodges the fair complaint that my rhetoric sometimes outruns my evidence. He argues that more stress on the present reality of the church’s unity deepens the tragedy of division; divisions…
I begin with two observations. First, on any millennial view, the Christian account of history is progressive, moving from the garden to the city. It is eschatological not only in that there is an end, but that the end is a glorified beginning, not merely a return to origins. To…
The church is a new form of polity that erupts into the world as much as the Son of God comes into the world. It’s a real-world political alternative to the polities of the ancient world. It resolves many of the political dilemmas of the ancient world, though not simply…
In my last post , I explained how Baptists really have a “one-ordinance-one sacrament” ecclesiology. I said this: “what Baptists really believe, in modern parlance, is that there is one ordinance (baptism which is a sign or symbol only) and one sacrament (the Lord’s Supper in which feeding upon Jesus…
One of the most extensive and penetrating responses to the Yoder-Hauerwas attack on Constantiniansm is found in Oliver O’Donovan’s Desire of Nations , in a chapter entitled “The Obedience of Rulers.” O’Donovan defines the word “Christendom” as “a historical idea,” specifically “the idea of a professedly Christian secular political order,…
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“Partake” is a fuzzily Platonic word, but we pierce the fuzziness a bit by contrasting “partake” to “take.” When we “take” something, it’s no longer with the one we took it from; it’s with us. Tim Duncan might take a rebound away from an opposing player, or a child might…
INTRODUCTION John concludes his epistle by encouraging his reader to have confidence in prayer, but warning them about sins leading to death. These final instructions are part of his overall purpose in the letter, to confirm that the Son of God has come and that He brings life (v. 20).…
1 John 5: For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are one. John’s language in this verse is a little different from most English translations. The last clause is usually translated, “the three are one” or “the three are…
In the gospel of John, Jesus says that the Father bears witness by giving Jesus works to do (5:36). The Father also bears witness through declaring Jesus His Son at Jesus’ baptism. Finally, the Father bears witness of Jesus by raising Him from the dead. If you saw Jesus perform…
Did Jesus exercise faith? Yes. That is inexplicably controversial today. Among many other indications that Jesus exercised surpassing faith, the account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness stands out. Eat bread, Satan says. Man lives by the Word of God, not by bread alone, Jesus answers, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3. In…
Sociologists have known for a long time about the social constraints on knowledge, ethics, beliefs. It’s the sociologist’s stock in trade. What we have witnessed in the past couple of decades is the democratization of sociology. Now everyone’s a sociologist, and even, unlike some obfuscating sociologists, turns sociology back on…
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