Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Every advent of new media creates the justifiable reaction from some that the necessarily accompanied amputation may not be worth the extension made possible by the new tools. This is not unique to the Digital Age. Lamoignon Malesherbes, the French politician who was counsel for the defense of Louis XVI,…
A response to Gage Crowder's " The Hole in our Hope ?" Already, the first pages of the Bible promise a bright future. The story starts with the creation of heaven and earth, where heaven is perfect, but the earth is in a state of formless emptiness. Yet, God takes…
A rejoinder to Bubu Jarmulak's essay, " Embrace Pessimism ." Whereas calumnious critiques are reflections of more on the critic than the work criticized, good critiques are always opportunities for reassessment and improvement if they are received as such . Since its renaissance, the biblical doctrine of postmillennialism—or “optimistic eschatology,”…
Several decades ago, a pastor (and friend) mentioned in passing at one of our regular breakfasts together that he wasn’t satisfied with the usual reading of Jesus’s prayer in Gethsemane, the usual reading being that Jesus asked the Father to avoid the Cross at Gethsemane. We turned to the passage,…
On May 21, 1604, the cathedral of Toledo in Spain held job interviews for the post of choirmaster, the head of music at the church. The position had been vacated when the previous occupant, Alonso Lobo, was poached by the nearby cathedral of Seville, and Toledo needed a replacement who…
Imagine — counterfactually: on the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus held up an empty hand and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant poured out for you. Drink of it.’ But there was no cup, no wine, nothing. If there’s no sign of the covenant, is there…
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There’s a kind of theology that effectively denies human experience. You may think and feel that X or Y is true, X and Y may well fit your experience, but the Bible or some theological principle tells us otherwise. You are self-deluded about your experience. What else would you expect,…
I’ve liked Dean Koontz since reading Relentless , where the heroes are a family of home-schooling survivalists. Take that, literary establishment! Koontz was the guest in the NYTBR “By the Book” feature, and his answers to a couple of questions give additional reasons to like him. What book would you…
I have written on the biblical theology of rivers in the past, arguing that, unlike the sea, rivers are water reconciled with land, water made useful to land. In terms of biblical politics, rivers are Gentiles reconciled to Israel, their glory flowing to Zion to adorn Yahweh’s house. Rivers don’t…
Travis Ables’s Incarnational Realism is a very fine book, a monograph to learn from, to grapple and battle and argue with. I didn’t find it utterly convincing; but what is? Even when not persuasive, it’s the kind of incisive study that leaves marks and scars and stigmata. What more could…
Salvatore Basile’s fascinating history of air conditioning, Cool , examines the technology and its penetration into American life. He highlights the role of vaudeville and movie theaters in extending the realm of cool. But he is also interested in the reaction to the new technology. And the reaction was surprisingly…
Here’s an odd thing. Revelation 12 begins with a clear vision of incarnation and exaltation: A woman gives birth to a messianic child who is taken to the throne of God. But then the child disappears. The dragon attacks the woman; no Messianic intervention to rescue. The dragon calls up…
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