Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
10. Do not slander [tattle on] a slave to his master, Lest he curse [denounce] you and you be found guilty. The Sojourner of Proverbs 30 is a humble man. He makes this clear in verses 2-4, where he says that he is stupider than anyone else on earth, but…
In retrospect and at first glance, many of the issues that have plagued and divided the Church seem incredibly trivial. The Quartodecimians were branded as heretics for celebrating Easter on 14 Nisan. One of the issues that divided the Eastern and Western Churches in 1054 was the kind of bread…
The gifts of the wise men have been commonly interpreted as royal gifts to the infant King of the Jews. Each of the three gifts is, indeed, connected with kings and kingship in Scripture. The Lord’s anointed is pictured wearing a crown of gold in Psalm 21:3, and the gold…
The Church is not in good shape. Nearly every week we hear about another prominent Christian leader who has fallen into scandalous sin. Many shepherds feed their flocks a diet of baby food, if not outright poison. Few Churches celebrate the Lord’s Supper regularly, and few Christians appreciate its importance.…
Two things I asked of Thee, Do not refuse me before I die: Keep deception and words of falsehood far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches, Feed me with the food that it my portion, Lest I be full and deny Thee, And say, "Who is the LORD?"…
During the Middle Ages, Joseph, the husband of Mary, was the butt of many jokes. Medieval theater and art often depicted him as something of a buffoon, decidedly marginal to the gospel story. In part, this was the unfortunate obverse of the exaltation of Mary; any man would suffer by…
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In the current issue of Pro Ecclesia (Spring 2014) Todd Billings offers what he describes as a “Catholic-Reformed” alternative to Moral Therapeutic Deism and to contemporary “correlationist” approaches to contemporary theology. He finds “correlationist” instincts operating not only in latter-day Tillichian efforts to catch the wave of postmodernity, but also…
The Spurs are back in the finals against the formidable Heat, and of course Spurs fans everywhere are jittery (there are at least 3 outside San Antonio, perhaps more). It’s a good time to steel oneself against the possibility of tragedy and turn philosophical about sports. Or, to be philosophical,…
Ramses III was not the only ancient conqueror who castrated his conquered enemies (see Niehaus, Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology , 143). He destroyed the household of the conquered enemy by making it impossible for the household to reproduce. They were made eunuchs for the kingdom of Ramses.…
In a recent post , I presented a case for seeing the sacrificial system of Leviticus as a continuous wedding feast. The portions of the animal placed on the altar were considered “bridal” food for Yahweh the divine husband. I was drawing on the work of James Jordan, and Jordan…
John Walton observes that there are no real parallels to the imprecatory Psalms in Ancient Near Eastern hymnody ( Ancient Israelite Literature in its Cultural Context , 147). That is no accident: “In the monotheism of Israel, the suffering of the righteous constituted a much more serious problem than it…
It was suggested long ago by Origen that the canonical arrangement of the three books of wisdom - Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song - is deliberate. It represents the progress of wisdom. Origen saw it the trajectory as one from the principles of “moral knowledge” through the recognition of the…
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