Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In the previous part of this series , we showed how the serpent, through Adam’s failure to protect his bride and her subsequent deception, alienated man from woman. It’s difficult to overstate the consequences of man’s disobedience: disregarding God's commands begins to break down the order which He created. God…
In the first part of this series , we showed that God declared that the division between man and woman would be “not good.” There was a division between heaven and earth, which, in contrast to the rest of the creation account, is conspicuously not described as “good,” and there…
The evangelical community is caught in a controversy between one of its most influential members, pastor John MacArthur, and one of its rising stars, Beth Moore. For those who haven’t been following this fight, here’s the summary: Beth Moore is a well-known public teacher and author on the Bible. MacArthur,…
When one of the most famous personalities of the “young, restless, reformed” world starts sounding like an emissary from Vatican City, #BigEva social media takes note. That’s what happened this week when a sermon clip surfaced of Francis Chan hinting at his evolving view of the eucharist: “I didn't know…
All of the Gospels have a story about a fig tree. Not just parables, actually. There are those, too, when Jesus uses illustrations having to do with fig trees. But there are accounts of actual events having to do with fig trees in all four Gospels. Matthew has given the…
I. Introduction With the final installment of the sequel trilogy complete, it’s fair to say that Star Wars fans are, and evermore will be, a house divided. The sequels have split opinion since they were announced. The chief accusation has perhaps been that they amount to little more than nostalgia—not…
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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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