In the past couple of weeks, several articles have quoted Christian activist David Lane quoting my Between Babel and Beast: America and Empires in Biblical Perspective , most recently here . The most damning thing from my book seems to be this: “Americanists cannot break Babelic or bestial . . . . Continue Reading »
Nelson Mandela is a titanic figure on the world stage, but in a recent TNR piece Eve Fairbanks observes that many younger South Africans view him as a traitor who sold out the cause. One reason for this perception is the economic disproportion in South Africa since apartheid: “white South . . . . Continue Reading »
Peter Kivy is known mainly for his work in the philosophy of music, but in his 2006 The Performance of Reading: An Essay in the Philosophy of Literature he suggests that silent reading also has a musical quality: It is a performance by a performer to an audience of one who happens to be identical . . . . Continue Reading »
Since Mendel, virtually no one has believed in the the Lamarckian idea of the inheritance of acquired characteristics. This means that inherited properties are considered biological, and specifically genetic. An organism with a certain genetic makeup will acquired new properties during its . . . . Continue Reading »
In our Bibles, the Song of Songs is grouped along with Proverbs and Ecclesiastes as “wisdom” literature. Should it be? It would seem not. The other wisdom books contrast wisdom and folly, repeatedly use “wisdom words” that have to do with understanding, teaching, knowledge, . . . . Continue Reading »
I prognosticate about the future of the church in the city at Firstthings.com today. . . . . Continue Reading »
That the sins of the fathers are “imputed” to sons is, Grotius thinks, a clear teaching of Scripture ( Defensio Fidei Catholoicae: De Satisfactione Christi Adversus Faustum Socinum Senensem (1.25). But why? Grotius gives this intriguing answer, reflecting on Jeremiah’s use of the . . . . Continue Reading »
It’s one of the fun questions of theology: Was Nestorius a Nestorian, Pelagius a Pelagian, Calvin a five-point Calvinist? Etc. Now, was Grotius a Grotian? Not if “Grotian” means “one wno denies penal substitution in favor of a governmental view.” Consider this summary . . . . Continue Reading »
The atonement doesn’t take place “above the heads” of the participants - Jews, disciples, Pilate, Jesus - but in and through their concrete actions and reactions. There can be no sociology of atonement unless the atonement is understood as an inherently social and political event. . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah 53 is not just about the trials and death of the Messiah. It’s also about the exaltation/vindication of the Messiah and the contrite acknowledgment of the Messiah by the people who had rejected Him. It’s not just about the cross but about the resurrection and ascension, and about . . . . Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
