Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Stories, frankly all human stories are practically always about one thing aren’t they? Death. The inevitability of death. . . . “There is no such thing as a natural death. Nothing that happens to man is ever natural, since his presence calls the whole world into question. All men must…
Matthew is organized around 5 discourses, which trace out the history of Jesus as a recapitulation of the history of God and Israel in the Old Testament. Jesus first speaks as a new Moses, instructing His disciples on a mountain about a righteousness that surpasses the righteousness of the scribes…
The fall of the Sethites in Genesis 6 is the third fall of mankind, or the third degree of Adam’s original fall. Adam sinned in a Garden against his Father by stealing something he was supposed to wait to obtain. (“Every tree shall be food for you” Genesis 1:29.) Cain…
The recent fantasy film Noah and a slightly related blog comment by my friend Douglas Wilson have stirred up again the question of whether the “sons of God” in Genesis 6 who married the “daughters of men” were fallen angels or the priestly line of Seth. Doug argues for angels,…
The prophecy of Jude concerns apostasy. An illustration of apostasy and its consequences is found in verse 6, which the New American Standard Bible translates this way: "And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for…
At His death, Jesus is surrounded by a Roman centurion and his cohort of Gentile solders. Matthew doesn't say that any disciples are there. But women are, and so is Joseph of Arimathea, identified as a “disciple” but, as John tells us, a “secret disciple for fear of the Jews,”…
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I offer some thoughts on Ephraim Radner’s powerful A Brutal Unity: The Spiritual Politics of the Christian Church at the main First Things site .
In the closing chapter of Defensio Fidei Catholoicae: De Satisfactione Christi Adversus Faustum Socinum Senensem , Grotius provides a fascinating overview of sacrificial practices outside Israel. He moves from the classical world to India, the Americas, and the Canary Islands. He talks about animal and human sacrifice, and includes the…
Once upon a time, “the arts” did not exist. Of course, from the beginning people painted figures, shaped rock and wood into statues, played or sang melodies, added decorative flourishes to their homes. But for much of human history, these activities were not thought to be in a separate category…
Twice in the final chapters of Revelation, John falls before an angel and the angel tells him to get up: “I am a fellow servant of yours and your brothers who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God” (19:10; 22:8-9). It seems a simple reaffirmation of monotheism. Of course, no…
Another installment of Pastor Ralph Smith’s studies in Deuteronomy is available at the Trinity House site.
A few theologians leave me breathless, and Sam Wells is one of them. In his latest, Learning to Dream Again: Rediscovering the Heart of God , he discusses the aspects of wisdom that are his theme. One is humility, another joy, but stuck between them is suffering shame. This is…
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