Category: Biblical Studies
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The Gospel According to Job: Job 16:18-22
Read more: The Gospel According to Job: Job 16:18-22Finding good friends can be a tough gig. I’m talking about the type of friend that is more than a Facebook acquaintance. I’m talking about the type of friends that you share life with in the midst of its brutal winters. But, could there possibly be anything worse than not being able to find those…
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Leading with Love: Exploring Textual and Historical Criticism in 1 Thessalonians 2:7
Read more: Leading with Love: Exploring Textual and Historical Criticism in 1 Thessalonians 2:7Raise your hand if you love textual criticism! As I look at the kind of responses and readers we see here at the Two Cities, it might actually be the case that a couple of you raised your hands (or at least raised your eyelids). Certainly, the blogosphere isn’t the normal medium through which the…
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Philosophy in the Bible
Read more: Philosophy in the BibleEarlier this year I submitted the following entry for The Lexham Bible Dictionary. This will be the entry for “Philosophy”. It’s obviously too late to change it for the dictionary, but let me know what you think anyways! (I like it alright, but the quote from Kierkegaard and the use of Kelsey make it a…
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Red Letter Bibles: Should Publishers Print Them?
Read more: Red Letter Bibles: Should Publishers Print Them?There is love, in the red letters There is truth, in the red letters There is hope for the hopeless, peace and forgiveness There is life, in the red letters These lyrics come from the song Red Letters sung by dc Talk in their album, Supernatural, released in 1998. For some, this song is undoubtedly…
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The Gospel According to Job: Job 9:32-35
Read more: The Gospel According to Job: Job 9:32-35Job is my favorite book of the bible. In some ways, this is a bit terrifying. Something in the back of my mind tells me that liking the book of Job so much might not be such a good idea. I say this because if you are always pondering the book of Job, then it…
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“Forgotten Christian Virtues: Rolling in the Ash and Sizing-On the Sackcloth”
Read more: “Forgotten Christian Virtues: Rolling in the Ash and Sizing-On the Sackcloth”“I am trading my sorrows, I am trading my shame I am laying them down for the joy of the Lord… I am trading my sickness, I am trading my pain, I am laying them down for the joy of the Lord!” “Yes Lord, Yes Lord…” And “Yes Lord…” ad nauseam. Most of us are…
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Chalcedonian Hermeneutics
Read more: Chalcedonian HermeneuticsAs orthodox Christians we all readily affirm the Chalcedonian Definition of Christology. Jesus the Messiah has two natures; being both completely human and completely divine. These two natures are distinct from each other, yet are united in the single person of Christ. All Christological heresies abandon at least one of these central tenets. We know…
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A Regal Interpretation of Colossians
Read more: A Regal Interpretation of ColossiansIn continuation of Matt’s brief theology of Colossians, which focused on the nature of the Church’s new existence in Christ, this entry will focus on a major Christological theme of the letter. The main Christological message is summed up in the famous “Christ Hymn” of Col 1.15-20. Many interpreters of Colossians regard the hymnic material…
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A Short Theology of Colossians
Read more: A Short Theology of ColossiansThe message of the gospel points us to a new possibility for life—nay, a new actuality of life. The divine fullness has entered into time, and history is bursting at the seams. As the world hurtled onward towards the abyss, God came bodily in Jesus Christ and embraced death and reprobation—“making peace by the blood…