Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
One striking aspect of the recent “Federal Vision” conflict in the various conservative micro-Reformed groups is a debate over what older theologians really meant and said. Examining the credentials of various people who speak with great assurance on these matters one sees repeatedly degrees in church/theology history studies. In fact,…
The Worship of the English Puritans by Horton Davies really valuable book for gaining historical perspective on the American Presbyterian scene. (I will note for the record that I don’t believe there is an objective definition for “puritan” and I wish historians would stop using it and instead speak of…
This is the conclusion to Frame’s discussion about historical/covenantal election in his The Doctrine of God (pp. 329-30): Historical election and eternal election are distinct, but they cannot be entirely separated. Note the following: 1. Both historical and eternal election are aspects of God’s saving purpose. The election of Israel…
From John Frame’s The Doctrine of God : So although the election of Israel is by grace, there is an important place for continued faithfulness. Individuals can belong to the chosen people, yet lose their elect status by faithlessness and disobedience. Branches can be broken off “because of unbelief” (Rom.…
I’ve recently re-discovered an awesome theological resource, The Westminster Shorter Catechism Project . It is excellent, not least because it demonstrates the healthy diversity that has always been allowable in the Reformed Tradition until recently. For example, consider the sources attached to Question and Answer #94: Q: What is baptism?…
A friend recently asked if the frequent saying of the Pledge of Allegiance was a sign of American jingoism, or an attempt to inculcate “nationalism” of a bad sort. It seemed to him as a Canadian that that might be the case. That seemed to me to be probably backwards,…
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“A tradition of seven heavens and seven earths was popular in the Near East during the later part of the first millennium B.C.E. and the first millennium C.E.,” writes Wayne Horowitz ( Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography , 217). He elaborates: “Surviving Hebrew and Arabic texts from this time present cosmographies in…
Yahweh destroys the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot escapes with his daughters to a cave, where they get their father drunk with wine, and seduce him, giving birth to Moab and Ammon. Late in Judges, Gibeah of Benjamin has become a Sodom, and Yahweh sends the rest of Israel…
When there’s a famine in the land, people leave for brighter horizons. They find food; they multiply; they get rich. It happens to Abram in Egypt, to Jacob in Haran, to Israel in Egypt. Exile agrees with Israel; they always return with children and treasures. Except Naomi. She goes to…
The gods fight back chaos and form a universe, and set up an image to mark the boundary of their ordered realm. A god instructs a king to build a temple, who places an image of the God in the inner sanctuary. The zones of ancient cosmology - heaven, sky,…
John hears a voice behind him and turns to see the voice. First he sees lampstands (Revelation 1:10, 12). Austin Farrer ( The Revelation of St. John Divine , 65) points out that the turning and the lampstands come from Zechariah 4:1-2. He explains, “Zechariah’s vision was familiar to Israelites…
Jesus has eyes of fire (Revelation 1:14). Eyes are organs of judgment, and to get near Jesus you have to pass through the fire. In the next phrase, Jesus is said to have feet like bronze, glowing as if “fired in a furnace” (v. 15). He has walked through the…
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