Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In this essay we will think about how the whole Bible is structured as one Word of God. To begin with, there is only one Bible, not two. While we divide the Bible into Old and New Testaments, that division has no more meaning than divisions into chapters and verse,…
How should one badly bruised and inadequate church relate to another? (I am not addressing the blessed possessors of absolutely perfect churches, naturally.) I believe there are three things to bear in mind. First, we must be open to the values in other Christian traditions - even Roman Catholic and…
The third and sixth day have a second creative act. Note the chiastic arrangement of the material in these special acts and the parallelism between them, see the figure below. The author arranges the description of each day as a chiasm. Each line in the chiasm is mated with a…
Now the two of them were naked, the man and his woman, and they did not sense shame (Genesis 2:25) The nakedness of Adam and Eve requires several comments. First of all, against those who think that nakedness is what God intended for humanity as a permanent estate, we have…
I’ve been reflecting on the meaning of integration, and our longing for integration in a fragmented world. I’ve been connecting my own covenant epistemology further with the thought of scientist-philosopher Michael Polanyi, artist Makoto Fujimura, and Classical Christian metaphysician D.C. Schindler. In my last post , and now in this…
Luke 13:31-33 is one of the strangest passages in the Gospel of Luke. It begins with a time note that sounds emphatic “At that very hour.” Then, we are told of Pharisees bringing a message that Herod wants to kill Jesus! In His answer, Jesus speaks of a three day…
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This passage is one of a series of challenges that the ?messenger of the Lord?Eissues to the people and priests of Israel. Verses 6-14 are specifically directed to the priests (v. 6). The entire passage is organized in a loosely chiastic structure: A. The Priests dishonor their Father and master,…
Is the issue of the theory of signs perhaps simply the question of where one places the distinction of signifier/signified? In Christian creationist perspective, everything created is signifier of God. This is its most fundamental essence and purpose, to show forth the glory of creator. Thus, the line separating signifier…
INTRODUCTION Pentecost is a new beginning, when the Spirit that hovered over the waters of the first creation forms the church into a new creation (Genesis 1:2). Pentecost is also a reversal of Babel, as the nations divided by tongues are reunited by a miracle of tongues. Pentecost is the…
The following includes some material from published essays, but also includes new material. In his third lecture on the ?Essence of Christianity,?Edelivered at the turn of the century, Adolf von Harnack expressed a common modern understanding of the nature of Christianity: “Anyone who wants to know what the kingdom of…
Covenant theology has great promise: it highlights the fact that redemption takes place in the real world, that redemption involves the creation of a new community, and that the community is necessarily marked out by signs, rites, words, conduct. But the language of covenant theology sometimes leaves the impression that…
The following are tentative notes, reflections, criticisms, and interactions with Calvin?s understanding of sacraments in general in Book 4 of the Institutes. 4.14.1 Calvin calls the sacraments ?another aid to our faith related to the preaching of the gospel.?E Several questions occur to me. First, what are the other ?aids…
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