Monday, November 30, 2020

That elusive hope (no, not political!)

›
Hope of the resurrection is thus able to inspire believers to expect that God's original purposes for human life will ultimately come to...
Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Upside down world

›
Paul’s focus is the humble use of power to serve one another, as Jesus served sinful humanity by his sacrificial death (Phil. 2:5–8); in a fa...
Friday, November 20, 2020

It's coming! Wait for it…

›
That a great reversal is coming is basic to the biblical picture of God’s justice. As Mary sings in her song known as the Magniflcat, God “ha...
Thursday, November 19, 2020

It's official!

›
I announced in Ancient News that I would be leaving Eisenbrauns/PSU Press at the end of November. Today, it was officially announced that I...
Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Shake, rattle, and burn!

›
Yet Psalm 104 is clear that while God’s judgment of evil (temporarily) destabilizes the cosmos, this is not God’s normative relationship to ...
Monday, November 16, 2020

Judgment with a purpose

›
Suffice it to say that if we were to investigate every case of theophanic judgment in the Old Testament, we would find not only that the lan...
Wednesday, November 11, 2020

It's more than just a song

›
The logic of the prophetic critique is that although “worship” is an explicit claim of allegiance to YHWH, such a claim must be backed up wi...
Tuesday, November 10, 2020

He pegged it!

›
Just as the Torah affirms that the love of God should lead to a life of obedience, the prophets emphasize that Israel’s allegiance or submis...
Thursday, November 05, 2020

The goal

›
The God of the Scriptures (unlike the deity imagined in some of our churches) is concerned for the entire range of earthly life and desires ...
Wednesday, November 04, 2020

Psalm for the day

›
No matter your political position, this one is for you (and me): 1 Give thanks to the Lord because he is good,      because his faithful l...
Tuesday, November 03, 2020

Public Service Announcement

›
This is from Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health. You can read the whole post here. In other words, if...

Thought for the day

›
Today is election day in the United States—as if anybody needed to be reminded. All I can say is to pray: Pray for peace. Pray for wisdom. A...

Hermeneutics count

›
God’s norms for creation are constant, but the articulation of these norms might need to change in order to address the actual historical si...
Monday, November 02, 2020

Torah and wisdom

›
Torah and wisdom are not exactly the same in the Old Testament. Yet the convergence between the two is uncanny. Both Torah and wisdom descr...
Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Psalm for the day

›
  For the music leader. Do not destroy. A psalm of Asaph. A song. 75  We give thanks to you, God. Yes, we give thanks!      Your name is nea...
Sunday, October 25, 2020

John Stuart Mill is still relevant

›
“Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing mo...
Friday, October 23, 2020

Silence isn't always golden

›
I overcommitted. I have too many projects right now and no time for recreational reading. The blog will reflect that for the next couple of ...
Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Repentance?

›
The fact that obedience is a crucial aspect of salvation underlies Paul’s encouragement to the New Testament church to “work out your own sa...
Monday, October 12, 2020

The exodus as model

›
The point is that by remembering their own bondage and by modeling their actions on their holy and gracious deliverer God (who was attentive...
Sunday, October 11, 2020

Beware what you say

›
Beware what you say, because it can be used in the future to show how far off the wall you were! Case in point, a very good scholar, Bernhar...