Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
For many people Christmas comes on December 25 and is over December 26. The tree is taken down along with the lights and the other decorations, and everyone begins setting the house in order for the new year. No more Christmas hymns. No more celebrations (well, until New Year’s Eve).…
The Ascension and the Incarnation should not be disconnected in our Christmas thinking or celebrations. As N.T. Wright notes, the ascension is "a central and vital feature without which all sorts of other things start to go demonstrably wrong. . . . where the ascension has been ignored or misunderstood,…
“In the Word was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness.” Thus John describes the incarnation of the Son. He comes as the living and life-giving light of the world. That’s good news. In the beginning, God spoke and light shone…
Christmas is all about Jesus. The angels announce Jesus’ birth, shepherds and wise men come to see Jesus, Herod wants to kill Jesus. We occasionally think of the Father who sent the Son, but we keep returning to the Son made flesh in Bethlehem’s manger. Meanwhile, as always, the Spirit…
Christmas is about many things, but one of the chief things revealed in the gospel of Christmas is the humility of God. We don't often think of humility as an attribute of God. If God is glorious and exalted, we think, He must be haughty and proud and self-centered. We…
John famously begins his Gospel with a piece of theology: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Matthew starts with a genealogy. John celebrates Advent with a hymn, Matthew with a list. For John, Jesus is the Word of creation…
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Leviticus 10:8-11 This morning?s sermon emphasized that in the New Covenant we are invited to draw near to God in the heavenly sanctuary, where God offers the hidden gifts to us. One of these gifts is the gift of food, the meal that we celebrate here at this table. But…
Today we celebrate two hundred and twenty-eight years of American history, and it is a good time to assess, briefly, how we stand as a nation. Reflecting over the past two centuries, it is obvious that this nation is a strikingly different place than it was after the smoke of…
Isaiah 62:1-5 For Zion?s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem?s sake I will not keep quiet, until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, and her salvation like a torch that is burning. And the nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; and you will…
A purely disinterested agapic love, if it is even possible, is not selfless but the opposite. A purely disinterested love, one that does not communicate a desire for love in return, is an act of power. A man who loves but refuses to receive love is claiming a right that…
In his fascinating book, Divine Symmetries , Victor Wilson points to a series of parallels between Ishmael’s banishment from Abraham’s camp (Gen 21) and the sacrifice of Isaac (Gen 22): 1. Yahweh’s command, 21:10; 22:2: “cast out this . . . son”; “take your son” 2. Early rising, 21:14; 22:3:…
So, here?s the problem: 1. Eros is desire and love for beauty, evoked by and responding to beauty in the object of desire. 2. God loves us in spite of our ugliness. 3. Therefore, God?s love for us is not erotic. He does not desire us; we cannot shoot any…
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