Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The resurrection stories in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are among the strangest stories in all of the literature of the world, even among the strangest stories in the Bible. That is true of each Gospel’s accounts individually, but even more of the collection as a whole. On the one…
As a pastor, I’m interested in discipleship. Christians are called to be disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. Discipleship has everything to do with the disciplines we walk by in our lives. Things like Bible reading, prayer, and fasting are hallmarks of standard Christian discipleship. The basic thrust is that…
Psalm 1 is justly famous among biblical texts. It opens the Psalter, it’s a paean to the life-giving power of the Law, and it beautifully describes righteous life as a stable, fruitful tree. It subtly weaves the contrasting threads of wickedness and righteousness into a succinct summary of biblical wisdom:…
No book is more quoted in Hebrews than the Psalter: there are quotations and allusions to psalms on virtually every page. And many of the quotations are not passing references but closely considered and repeatedly cited as the author of Hebrews develops his central arguments. Much of Hebrews is exposition…
Howard Bloom is a beautiful hypocrite. The author of books in as different subjects as Mohammed, scientific theory, and the cultural upheaval of the 1960s, he professes to be a “stone cold atheist.” Yet in spite of that profession, Bloom obviously writes as a Jew; that is, he writes with…
There may be some debate about who deserves the title “the King of American literature,” but, at least to my mind, there should be no debate over who deserves to be “the Queen” – let’s give the crown to Flannery O’Connor. She is, however, a very unlikely queen. Unlikely, not…
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“In just about every case of a millenarian tyrant,” writes Waller Newell in his 2013 Tyranny , “we find a shattering experience in early life – failure to achieve a respectable career, distant or oppressive parents, shame and disgrace over the family name, a feeling of being excluded by the…
Paul's visit to Athens is nestled in the middle of a narrative sequence describing Paul's missionary journey. When Paul and Barnabas part ways because of their dispute over John Mark (15:36-39), Paul continues his missionary work with Silas. Together with Timothy, they visit Philippi (16:6-40), Thessalonica (17:1-9) and Berea (17:10-15).…
In ancient Israel, the vast majority of those circumcised were circumcised as infants. If one were developing a theology of circumcision, it wouldn't make sense to focus on the comparatively rare adolescent or adult circumcisions. What is normal in practice would naturally be the norm of theology. In the two-millennia…
In a 2010 article in The Other Shore , Rice University's Ewa Thompson argues that post-colonial categories are useful for explaining the experience of formerly Soviet-occupied areas of Eastern Europe, especially Poland. Many Poles, she admits, associate imperialism with European imperialism in Africa and link orientalism with the far east.…
Marjorie Garber's amusing summary ( Shakespeare After All ) of Shakespeare's Pericles captures the flavor of the play: “a man who woos a wicked, incestuous princess, solves a riddle, and flees her land—and who just happens to be shipwrecked on the shore of another land, where there is another princess…
In his recent biography of Charles Williams , Grevel Lindop summarizes Williams's essay on the cross, calling it Williams's “most powerful and honest theological essay.” Williams observes that the cross is “revolting to our sense of justice,” justifable only because it shows that God entered into our suffering. He challenges…
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