Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Because of sin, the arts sometimes do not serve to glorify but to debase. Sinful men make their environments ugly, and create ugly art to “enhance” their ugly words. But since all men are still God’s images, no men are able to live with such ugliness all the time. Thus,…
Arts and literature reviews in most evangelical Christian publications generally approach their subjects in terms of ideology. We are told whether or not the film or book is acceptable in terms of morals, sexual graphicness, and theological accuracy. While there is definitely a place for such reviews, I fear that…
We speak of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The early Church tended to speak of Him as Father, Word, and Spirit. In this short essay, I want to suggest some other ways to think of the Trinity, ways that I have found pastorally helpful in my own life…
I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and guard My commandments (Ex. 20:5-6). The Second Word forbids acts of ceremonial…
8. The Table of Nations If we assume births every two years, and about 30 years between generations (cp. Gen. 11:12-24), we can come up with an approximate series of dates for the generations recorded in Genesis 10. We shall assume that all three of Noah’s sons had their firstborn…
Zechariah’s first prophecy (Zech. 1:1-6) was delivered in the eighth month of the second year of Darius. The notation of this date serves a number of purposes. Most obviously, it relates Zechariah’s prophecies to those of Haggai. By the time Zechariah delivered his first prophecy, Haggai had already chided the…
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2 Kings 16:12 describes Ahaz’s consecration of the altar built from the prototype in Damascus. Three times in that verse he is called “the king,” and in this designation, the author of Kings picks up the technique employed in 1 Kings 13 to describe Jeroboam’s consecration of the altar at…
Psalm 144:12 asks that the Lord make “our daughters as corner pillars cut after the pattern of a palace.” “Pattern” is TABNIT, the noun used to describe the pattern that Moses sees on the mountain and later guides the building of the tabernacle. “Palace” is HEYKAL, the word used for…
McGrath offers the following genealogy of the distinction of nature and supernature: Prior to the 12th century, theologians defined grace as a “gift of God” without distinguishing various kinds of gifts. But this left open the question of whether “all of God’s gifts” should be “identified as God’s grace.” Is…
CS Lewis said that the courtly love tradition arose from “Ovid misunderstood.” Medieval soteriology might be said to have arisen from “Augustine misunderstood.” Everyone was Augustinian and no one wanted to be Pelagian, but Augustine’s actual teaching was confused by transmission problems both of his own works and of conciliar…
What happens to Paul’s doctrine of justification if “faith” in the phrase “justified by faith” is a name for Jesus, as it appears to be in Gal 3:23, 25, on analogy with the use of PISTOS as a name in Rev 19:11? Or, perhaps, if “faith” is shorthand for “faith…
Cicero says, justice is rendering to each man his due, and Pelagius agrees. Paul says, justice is God’s giving ungodly sinners eternal life, and Augustine follows Paul. Remigius of Auxerre noted the contrast: “Mea iustitia est malum pro malo reddere. Tu solus iustus, quam circa nos ostendisti, reddens bonum pro…
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