Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
“And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets,” Zachariah 8:5. 1. Ultimatum game Ultimatum Game is an economic experiment. Its rules are simple: I will give you $100 as long as you give part of that money to the person next…
The Nephilim of Genesis 6 has been a topic of great speculation over the centuries. The word appears in Scripture two times, first in Genesis 6 and then in Numbers 13. There have been three major theories regarding the identity of the Nephilim : The Fallen-Angel Procreation Theory: this view…
Jesus on trial was silent before all His accusers, until the high priest said to Him: “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” (Matthew 26:63) The high priest commanded Jesus to declare clearly whether or not He was the…
Introduction In many ways I have been disheartened—and at times distraught—by how congregations across America have responded to Covid19, not in the first weeks when so much was unknown, but in the months since. I had, like most everyone, originally thought we'd be at home a few weeks, but from…
The dust settled as Yahweh clapped his hands together to knock off any remaining clumps of dirt and soil. He had just finished forming from the dust of the ground the crowning glory of his creation. There, lying lifeless upon the newly created earth, was the first image in Yahweh's…
When reading the Psalms Christologically, it is one thing to see the prefigured sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. But what do we do with the passages concerning recompense, judgment, or vengeance? Are we to also read these Christologically, or are these vestigial Old Covenant ways of thinking, fit…
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Robert Kolb ( Martin Luther: Confessor of the Faith ) observes that Luther resisted presenting a systematic theology of atonement. Instead, he employed various biblical images and descriptions to meet the pastoral needs of his audience: “When he addressed the guilt or shame of his hearers, Luther presented Christ’s substitutionary…
V auhini Vara reports at The Atlantic about how US frackers beat OPEC. The story starts in 2014 when “U.S. shale oil represented about 5 percent of the oil being produced worldwide. But the process was expensive, which suggested to many that shale producers could not stay in business if…
A ccording to Robert Kolb ( Martin Luther: Confessor of the Faith , 125–8) Luther had a “relational” understanding of righteousness: “Whereas most medieval thinkers conceived of human ‘righteousness’ in terms of performance or activity, Luther believed that the concept rested on a deeper foundation. Righteousness is being what the…
T he final section of 1 Chronicles is neatly framed by speeches by David. Chapter 22 contains David's speech of encouragement to Solomon, concluded by a brief exhortation to “all the leaders” (22:17–19). Chapters 28–29 record several public speeches, marked by “David said” and interspersed with descriptions of temple furnishings:…
A nticlerical agitation was more consequence than cause of the English Reformation, argues David Loades in his contribution to Anticlericalism . Fashions change, including religious ones; monkish religion was not as popular by the beginning of the sixteenth century as it had been, and the energy was with the friars.…
1 Chronicles doesn't say anything about David's sin against Bath-Sheba and Uriah (cf. 2 Samuel 11–12). Bath-Sheba is never mentioned in Chronicles at all, Uriah only once, in a list of David's warriors (1 Chronicles 11:41). In the Chronicler's account, David's great sin is taking a census of Israel (1…
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