Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
I thought it might be good to put this up here, since it is 14 years old, and itself reflects earlier discussion. From this you can see that we at BH have been considering this notion for quite some time. Clearly, the last word has not been said. — James…
Hopefully, my commentary on James will be out later this year. But here are a few chiasms for your consideration. I think the James 5 chiasm orginally came from Doug Jordan. The entire book of James is focused on how the pastors and leaders (“brothers”) of the church use their…
In my first post I noted that the parables of Jesus were not simply illustrative stories. They are really nothing like the kind of simple, homely illustrations that preachers often use to explain difficult concepts to their congregations. Just to be clear: there’s nothing wrong with illustrating one’s sermonic statements.…
Ephesians is often treated as a pure type example of the Pauline method that “the indicative preceds the imperative.” But what Paul does first is pray . Simply reading verse 3 and following involves readers in a prayer of thanksgiving to God–and much more so for those listening to the…
Yesterday, I took part with my oldest son in a church-sponsored city outreach project (not because I’m especially prone to such behavior but because my son has a Boy Scout requirement that this would help him meet). Before we were sent out on our various jobs, the leader gave a…
There is a scene in Prince Caspian , the second in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia that helps explain why it is we have four Gospels, that is four accounts of the Good News of Jesus Christ—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It is the account of Lucy’s longed-for experience…
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Anthony Gierzynski reports on his research supporting “the idea that the Harry Potter series influenced the political values and perspectives of the generation that came of age with these books. Reading the books correlated with greater levels of acceptance for out-groups, higher political tolerance, less predisposition to authoritarianism, greater support…
The world of Genesis can appear to be an alien world. It’s full of strange institutions, unknown names and peoples. But for the author of Hebrews, the world of Genesis is the world of Christians. More than half of his great chapter on faith (Hebrews 11) is taken up with…
As one would expect, Jenson’s brief sketch of a positive account of atonement ( Theology as Revisionary Metaphysics , 133-5) is a Trinitarian account. Atonement means at-one-ment, and we cannot know what that reunion is or how it happens without knowing the One with whom are are made One. Atonement…
When the gods determine that Gilgamesh’s rival-turned-buddy Enkidu must die, he goes through some soul-searching. He not only regrets the battle with the bull of heaven, but begins to regret the storming of the cedar forest that that led to the destruction of Humbaba and the ambition that drove him…
In his four-volume Court of the Gentiles , published in the mid-seventeenth century, Theophilus Gale aimed to “confirm thee Authoritie, and demonstrate the Perfection, of Sacred Scriptures.” His other aim was to refute the Deist idea of natural theology, the notion that theology outside Israel and Christianity took its rise…
There are, James Jordan has argues, three “problems” to solve in Genesis 1:1-2: Formlessness, emptiness, and darkness. Yahweh forms the earth with light, by giving form, and by filling. This is also the pattern of new creation. Jesus comes as the light of the world to dispel the darkness. He…
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