Category: Biblical Studies
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Joy to the World…But what IS this Joy?
Read more: Joy to the World…But what IS this Joy?What does Christmas joy look like? And if so, how do we obtain it? This month, I’ve noticed that a lot of my Christmas reflections have sought to explore the emotional and spiritual dissonance that the soul can fall prey to during Christmastide. Personally, I do believe that nostalgia is not all evil, and that…
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Out of Egypt: The Final Exodus
Read more: Out of Egypt: The Final ExodusAs we find ourselves in another Christmas season, it is always good to return to the Gospels and remind ourselves why it is we celebrate. For me, that means returning to Matthew’s account of the birth of Christ, reading and pondering Matthew’s side of the story. But this story of the birth of a baby…
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The Gospel According to Job: Hope Beyond the Grave: Job 19:23-27
Read more: The Gospel According to Job: Hope Beyond the Grave: Job 19:23-27Many of us know Job 19 because, if we know anything of the actual Joban dialogue, we know Job 19:23-27. It is the most famous passage from the book. In the text Job states his belief that a day will come when he will physically see God after his death. Over the past couple of…
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David’s Tent as Temple in Amos 9: WTJ Article Summary
Read more: David’s Tent as Temple in Amos 9: WTJ Article SummaryThis week the new issue of the Westminster Theological Journal was made available. I am grateful to have been able to contribute to the esteemed Reformed journal and I thought I’d provide a brief summary of my new article. If you’re interested in reading it the full bibliographic details are: “David’s Tent as Temple in…
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The Christ Hymn
Read more: The Christ HymnOne of my favorite sections of Scripture is Philippians 2:5-11. In this passage Paul paints for us a beautiful picture of humility and self-denial in the person of Christ. All to often I read this hymn and immediately I am struck by how I fail to model such humility. Whereas Christ climbs down the ladder…
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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…