In my commentary on the Johannine epistles ( The Epistles of John Through New Eyes: From Behind the Veil ), I followed many commentators in interpreting the “abiding seed” of 1 John 3:9 as a reference to something within the believer. If we take the sperma as Jesus, then believers are . . . . Continue Reading »
Paul says that the gospel brings to light the mystery that had been hidden in God, and that this revelation of the mystery aims to make the wisdom of God known to “the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies” (Ephesians 3:8-10). Who are these rulers to whom the mystery of the . . . . Continue Reading »
In a 2006 article in Past & Present , Jonathan Sheehan examines controversies over idolatry in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Hobbes plays a crucial role in, as Sheehan thinks, radicalizing Calvin’s notion that the human mind is a “manufactory” of idolatry. Following . . . . Continue Reading »
Thomas Nagel doesn’t much like John Gray’s latest , The Silence of Animals: On Progress and Other Modern Myths , an assault on humanism along these lines. Gray rejects the idea that humans are unique, the notion that the mind reflects the order of the world, and the myth of progress. . . . . Continue Reading »
Christ is the new creation. In Him, the church is the new creation. To wit: She is light in the world. Day 1. She is the firmanent boundary and mediator between heaven and earth. Day 2. She is the fruitful land in the midst of the sea, the place where land and sea, Jew and Gentile, meet. Day 3. She . . . . Continue Reading »
David Dorsey ( Literary Structure of the Old Testament, The: A Commentary on Genesis-Malachi ) outlines Isaiah as a sevenfold chiasm: A. Condemnation, pleading, promise of future restoration, 1:1-12:6 B. Oracles to the nations, 13:1-26:21 C. Woes, 27:1-35:10 D. historical narrative, 36:1-39:8 . . . . Continue Reading »
I offer a brief explanation and defense of the medieval Quadriga over on the Trinity House page this morning. . . . . Continue Reading »
“Ambition” doesn’t appear in the Geneva Bible, but by William Casey King’s count ( Ambition, A History: From Vice to Virtue ) it appears seventy-six times in the notes to that Bible. Almost all of the references are negative. In his NYRB review of King’s book, David . . . . Continue Reading »
Discussing Alan Wolfe’s Political Evil: What It Is and How to Combat It in Books and Culture , Eric Miller describes and gives cautious approval to Wolfe’s “quasi-theological turn.” Wolfe now recognizes that “human beings, far from being free spirits standing to . . . . Continue Reading »
The animals used in the purification offering were ranked according to the religious and socio-economic status of the offerer. Priests offered bulls, leaders goats, the poor offered doves. Reflecting on this, James Jordan suggests that this gives us a clue to God’s way of building His . . . . Continue Reading »
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