Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
I mentioned last month ( BH 82) in my essay "Like a Dove" that Genesis 8 is a recapitulation of Genesis 1. Let me explicate that assertion here. Of course, the world after the Flood is a new creation, so we may expect a recapitulation of the first creation. It…
The book of Esther is one of the most neglected of the books of the Bible. To be sure, sermons are preached on it, and commentaries have occasionally been written on it, but almost without exception Esther has been interpreted in isolation from the rest of Biblical history, chronology, and…
Dear Mr. ______, . . . Here is how I look at the geocentricity question. Since I don’t recall what I wrote you before, I may be repeating some things. 1. The Bible does not teach it. Biblical passages used to support the idea are being misinterpreted. My original paper…
Answer 4 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is often taken as a magnificent answer to the question, "What is God?" It reads: "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth." Presbyterians are fond of praising this statement, preaching on it,…
The gospels tell us that at Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him "in bodily form like a dove" (Luke 3:22 & parallels). Biblically sensitive commentators have associated this event with three Old Testament parallels: (1) the hovering of the Spirit over the creation in Genesis 1:2; (2) the…
This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. (John 8:6) The story of the woman taken in adultery (John 7:53-8:11) has been part of the canonical Christian Bible from its earliest…
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Leo the Great, Homily for the Nativity of our Lord . Our Saviour, dearly-beloved, was born today: let us be glad. For there is no proper place for sadness, when we keep the birthday of the Life, which destroys the fear of mortality and brings to us the joy of…
Micah 3: Hear now, O heads of Jacob, and you rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know justice? You who hate good and love evil; who strip the skin from My people, and the flesh from their bones; who also eat the flesh of…
Christmas is the beginning of the gospel story. Pentecost is its end. The Spirit encloses the whole process, since He is both the agent of the incarnation and the Pentecostal gift of Jesus to His Bride. Salvation isn’t finished at Christmas, when God dwells with us in the man Jesus.…
Exodus 30:22-33 is a recipe. It prescribes the ingredients for the holy oil to anoint both the furnishings of the tabernacle and the priests. The text subdivides into three sections, each of which includes a statement about holiness: A. Recipe for anointing oil; it is holy, 30:23-25 B. Anointed things;…
What is a temple? Etymologically, the word is linked with measurement, a member of a family that includes temperature, temperament, tempo. A templum is a measured area. As David Steindl-Rast puts it ( Gratefulness ), originally the "measured area was not even on the ground but in the sky." Over…
Exodus 30:18-21 is the third of Yahweh’s seven speeches prescribing the form and furnishings of the tabernacle. It describes the laver placed in the court of the tabernacle, and corresponds neatly to the third day of the creation week, when the Lord separated the waters of the earth to allow…
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