Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
After 9 chapters of genealogy, the Chronicler begins his history with the death of Saul and the rise of David. The latter part of 1 Chronicles 12 describes the assembly of warriors from the twelve tribes to Hebron to celebrate David’s coronation as king. They have a three-day feast, with…
In the introduction we saw that Matthew and Luke are the only gospels which include “fire” in John the Baptist's narrative. If Matthew and Luke are the priestly and prophetic gospels, the inclusion of fire is of great importance. Priests are servants of the altar, working with fire every day.…
The feet of the great statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream cannot be interpreted as a prediction of the states of modern Europe, but the lessons from their failure can certainly be applied . The statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream spoke of God’s ordaining of four empires which would rule in succession throughout…
This past Sunday afternoon, I drove just a few miles west of my neighborhood to visit the corner of Sherman Blvd. and Burleigh St. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Amid a crowd I stood, looking at a huge gas station and multiple vehicles, all completely destroyed. Hundreds of feet of yellow caution…
1 Chronicles 12 is a flashback. The Chronicler has told the story of Saul’s death at the battle of Mount Gilboa. He has described how “all Israel” gathered to David at Hebron to make him king over all Israel (11:1-3). At the beginning of chapter 12, we move back to…
A great story draws you into specific details while delivering an ending that keeps you coming back. It brings you into the minutiae of life in such a way that requires patience, only to deliver a breath of fresh air time and again. The climax of the biblical story comes…
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What was Noah’s ark? A boat? Not really. As Morales points out ( The Tabernacle Prefigured , 157), the word used for ark ( tabah ) isn’t a normal term for a sailing vessel. Some have suggested the word derives from Egyptian words meaning coffer, chest or palace, house. The…
Derrida parodies Kant’s “On a Newly Arisen Superior Tone in Philosophy” with his late essay, “On a Newly Arisen Apocalyptic Tone in Philosophy’ (published, with Kant’s essay, in Raising the Tone of Philosophy . Kant’s essay criticizes the mystagogues who have taken over philosophy, those who appeal to some sort…
Kant claims that philosophy got off to a bad start when the word itself stopped being used in a strict sense to name a wissenschaflichen Lebensweisheit and is transferred to speculation and mysticism. As Derrida summarizes the point ( Raising the Tone of Philosophy ), “no harm would have happened,…
Kant likes Plato the academic. He doesn’t like Plato the letter-writer, teacher, and sender of messages. The latter is, through no fault of his own, too much the Schwarmer for Kant’s tastes. The dividing line between the good and bad Plato - or, more accurately, between Plato and Kant -…
When the glory of Yahweh appears to Ezekiel by the Chebar river, it appears as a teeming cloud of cherubim surrounding a throne on which a molten figure is seated (Ezekiel 1:22-28). The glory is a model of the cosmos; or, better, the cosmos is modeled on the glory. The…
From the beginning of the Bible, sanctuaries and buildings and other enclosed places are conceived of as feminine. Eve is “built” ( banah ) from the rib of Adam; the first “architecture” in the world is the woman. Throughout the Torah, we find analogies between sanctuary and bed. Yahweh dwells…
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