Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The Protestant-Catholic relationship has hardly been an untroubled one. And yet, the possibilities for various layers of reconciliation are better then at any time since the original schism 500 years ago. One of the symbols for the church that is used in Scripture is the church as a household (Ephesians…
Despite the layers of wiping, covering, and ransoming during the Day of Recoverings, true unity still has not been achieved. Divorce is still possible; God still might leave his people. Thus the Day of Recoverings must be repeated every year. The perpetual expression of unity between God and man in…
The events of Leviticus 16 are commonly known as “The Day of Atonement,” from the Hebrew phrase yom hakippurim, in Leviticus 23:27. However, it would be more accurate to say, “The Day of Atonements,” [i] since the word is plural. The plurality primarily relates to 16:33, which states five different…
Mary Douglas, against the common notion that primitive religious rituals were illogical and random asserts, “The analysis of ritual symbolism cannot begin until we recognize ritual as an attempt to create and maintain a particular culture … Any culture is a series of structures which comprise social forms, values, cosmology,…
Jesus holds seven stars. They are the angels of the seven churches (Revelation 1:20). For ancient readers and hearers, "seven stars" would evoke a number of associations - the seven planets, the seven stars of Ursa Major, and the seven stars that make up the Pleiades. The last makes a…
When he first arrives in Harran, at Paddan-Aram, the home of Laban his uncle, Jacob sees a well. Wells are mentioned frequently in Genesis. Twice Hagar finds a well in the wilderness (Genesis 16:14; 21:19). Philistines seize Abraham’s well (21:22-34), and Abraham’s chief servant finds a wife for Isaac at…
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Robert Ellis is not a Marxist. But he finds “food for thought” in some Marxist critiques of the sport-industrial-imperial complex ( Games People Play , 44-5). Sports reflects society, he observes, and some have pointed out the way American football is a mirror of the “clock-factory workforce.” Marxist’s push the…
Speech act theory is something of a fad in evangelical theology. Like all theoretical paradigms, it has its strengths. It is most useful, perhaps, in thinking about preaching and ritual, and also in thinking through (as Nicholas Wolterstorff has done) what it means to say that the Bible is God’s…
Michael Hanby ( No God, No Science? 31) makes the arresting claim that “the equation of abstraction with the movement from particular to general” is “not ontologically innocent.” It instead “reflects the deep-seated mechanistic assumption that the ‘parts’ of reality are ontologically prior to the whole of it, with the…
Lots happens in holy communion. Let’s just say this: The celebration of communion is a memorial of Jesus. A memorial is not only a reminder to the participants (though undoubtedly it is that). More fundamentally, a memorial is directed at God. In the Supper, we memorialize the death of Jesus…
Paul claims that he was shown mercy so that “Jesus might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example ( hupotyposis ) for those who would believe in Him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:16). Paul is “typical,” a pattern or impress, for others who find mercy. How exactly? The earlier…
J. Denny Weaver ( Nonviolent Atonement , 7) states a common view among contemporary Mennonites when he argues that traditional atonement theories only work “if one is willing to defend the compatibility of violence and retribution with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” He argues for continuity between the character of…
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