Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In my last essay, we saw how consumer culture has gutted the familial category necessary to understand the church. When a consumer visits a church, he expects another service-provider, such as a hospital or a restaurant. He doesn’t understand the role of men in ministry, and thus, not the role…
First time visitors to our church sometimes express their surprise that children, even the youngest, participate with their parents in the entire worship service. Many congregations created an expectation for the parents (and children) of Sunday School or Child Care being available during the entire worship service or during the…
Quantifying the Love of God “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” ~ John 3:16 This most beloved verse in all the Bible was spoken by the Savior himself to Nicodemus. As…
While The Lord’s Prayer enjoys wide recognition throughout the Church, its richness and depth may be unrealized due to a lesser familiarity with, what I will argue is, its primary inspiration: the Tabernacle. There, Christ’s intent can rightly be discerned. The Prayer’s methodological correction to the Jews and Gentiles wasn’t…
The Consumption of the Covenant Idea of the Church Last time we saw consumerism, having canalized its attitudes in our culture, shapes what the consumer sees when he or she steps into a church. Here, we’ll see how it has eviscerated the covenant and familial ideas necessary to understand the…
The ignoble Jayber Crow can stir your appetite for the noble. It’s the simplicity of a good ol’ Port William boy that builds the charm of the book. In fact, the elitists in Port William receive the harshest blows and severest outcomes, as they should. But before delving into the…
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W illiam Johnstone observes in his study of Exodus and Chronicles that the Chronicler blames the death of Saul on the ma'al by which he ma'al ed against the Lord (95; 1 Chronicles 10:13-14). It's the same term used earlier in Chronicles, and in each case it “punctuates the decisive…
W illiam Johnstone ( Chronicles and Exodus ) offers an explanation for the nearly verbatim repetition a portion of the genealogy of Benjamin in 1 Chronicles 8:29-38 and 9:35-44. The repeated portion “concerns, on the one hand, the population of Jerusalem, and, on the other, the family of Saul.” Both…
W illiam Johnstone ( 1 & 2 Chronicles , 1.126-7) notes that the gatekeepers listed in 1 Chronicles 9 are “first and foremost . . . security guards,” responsible for “locking up at night and opening first thing in the morning (v. 27). Their settlements surrounded the sacred precincts for…
F orced to choose between Nestorianism and Monophysitism, Karl Rahner once wrote, “I would prefer to be an orthodox Nestorian.” Aaron Riches, who quotes this comment ( Ecce Homo , 9), thinks it a revealing admission. But not surprising: “On the one hand, it is a sign of the historical…
A nthony Vidler ( The Architectural Uncanny ), homelessness has been a leading trope for characterizing the modern world. Here's Marx in 1844: “We have said . . . that man is regressing to the cave dwelling, etc.—but he is regressing to it in an estranged, malignant form. The savage…
S peaking at a recent conference at Trinity School of Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, Michael Gorman observed that Paul's summary of the gospel tradition follows an alternating rhythm: Paul first refers to an event in the gospel account, then cites proof of that event. Jesus died; the proof of His…
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