Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
5. Simeon and Levi: Brothers they destroyed. They treated violently their circumcised-covenant fellows. 6. "Into their counsel let not my soul enter. Into their assembly let not my glory join. For in their anger they killed a man, And in their pleasure they hamstrung an ox. 7. Cursed is their…
The fact that there is a "week" of seven kings over Edom, before we come to an eighth, hints that perhaps these have some link with the days of Genesis 1, especially as we find this list in the book of Genesis. Clearly the list of seven speaks of the…
Remember, whatever sins are committed by those with whom you are in covenant are your sins as well. You need to fear the judgment of God if you continue to be part of this denomination. I have recently discovered that the above rationalization is floating around cyberspace to justify breaking…
While Samuel’s mother Hannah prays at the tabernacle, the high priest Eli sees her lips moving silently and concludes that she is drunk (1 Samuel 1:13-14). Hannah protests that she has poured nothing into her, but is "pouring out" her soul before Yahweh; far from being giddy with wine, she…
For the record: I believe that those whom God effectually calls, he also freely justifies: not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone;…
Over the years, the ministry of Biblical Horizons has strongly advocated singing the psalms in worship. The Psalter is God’s hymnal, and we don’t need any prooftexts to know that as such, it should form the center of our praise to Him. To be sure, other hymns are permitted, just…
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Amos Funkenstein observes ( Perceptions of Jewish History , 11-12) that “To ancient or primitive societies, in which antiquity or a long pedigree makes for a true aristocracy, youth is a sign of inferiority, and a memory of youth calls for compensatory elements, all the more so if this memory…
Unclean spirits are conspicuous by their absence in the Old Testament, but the one direct reference gives us a clue to their activities. The Lord promises to open a fountain to cleanse the house of David and the city of Jerusalem, and adds “I will also remove the prophets and…
In a classic essay on the defiling force of sin in Studies in Sin and Atonement (258-9), A. Buchler observes that David asks twice for Yahweh to wash Him in Psalm 51 (vv. 4, 9). The reason has to do with the ritual background to David’s plea for cleansing. When…
In his excellent contribution to The Second Vatican Council , Paul Murray makes a crucial distinction between ecumenical optimism and Christian hope. Optimism, he argues, is “reality-denial,” an assurance that “things are not really bad as they might seem and will all inevitably work out well,” while hope “takes reality…
Tim Nichols describes local ecumenism in Englewood, Colorado, at the Trinity House site .
The prophets promise that a new David will arise to reign over a united kingdom. Judah and Israel will be bound back together under a single king. That sounds like a prophetic extension of David’s story, but in fact it’s something more like a simple repetition. David was first anointed…
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