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Category: The Bible as Literature

Ransomed from Captivity

Posted on February 3, 2023February 3, 2023

In the natural world, as observed through the lens of the scientific method, when counting a person’s age, we measure their lifespan against the time it takes for our planet to revolve around the sun. We observe and measure phenomena. But we do not observe or measure phenomena in literature—perhaps especially in biblical literature. Instead,…

God’s New Deal

Posted on January 27, 2023January 27, 2023

In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul explains that God’s people are held up as an example of sin, not so that sin is excused or justified, but as a cautionary tale, codified in the story of Scripture, an example to all peoples of how not to behave. The parallel teaching, also found in…

Stand Your Ground

Posted on January 20, 2023January 20, 2023

Scripture is clever. When Simeon stands in the temple waiting, he does so at the pleasure of his master. He has no agency, control, or personal expectations, yet he has a duty. As his very name suggests, he is to hear and obey the words of God until his death, trusting that God will fulfill…

Simon or Simeon

Posted on January 13, 2023January 13, 2023

Universities, schools, and centers of faith are giving up on knowledge and selling out. What happened this past week at Hamline University indicates a trend in which an agenda other than the mission to impart knowledge controls what is permissible in the classroom. Knowledge is not a popularity contest. A teacher does not share information…

Opener of the Womb

Posted on January 6, 2023January 6, 2023

Lies are comfortable. We lie to soothe feelings. To make agendas appealing, to sell things. We find lies so attractive that we bend our terminology to accommodate them. Instead of analyzing information, we discuss “narratives.” Instead of taking responsibility for our actions and their outcomes, we rush to share our stories and our vision. “The…

Your Thirst

Posted on December 30, 2022December 30, 2022

Suppose you ask an American what’s wrong with the culture and have enough patience to wade through people’s anger and cheap sound bites. You’ll find surprising agreement across all ideological boundaries: something is broken. Even those hell-bent on defending American exceptionalism will eventually contradict themselves and blame someone for why things are not as great…

No Issues Please

Posted on December 16, 2022December 16, 2022

During the Christmas season, when we use the expression “peace on earth,” we reduce it to a platitude, an absurd, utopian ideal where one day everyone will magically hold hands and get along—and then we congratulate ourselves for endorsing our correct view of how the world should work. We do this all the time with…

Mashallah

Posted on December 9, 2022December 9, 2022

The Arabic expression mashallah, which means “what God wills” or “what God desires has happened,” may be the best chance English speakers have at unlocking the spirit of Luke’s use of the Greek term, eudokia. The latter also pertains to the completion of God’s will, what God desires by fiat, and his good pleasure in the biblical…

The Fallacy of Identity

Posted on December 2, 2022December 2, 2022

A thousand years before the birth of Greek philosophy, the forbears of the biblical authors inhabited a world in which the families of the earth coexisted in the land with different languages and cultures. In the story of Luke, as with the rest of the Bible, the author’s focus is not on identity, but locality,…

Dividing the Flock

Posted on November 25, 2022November 25, 2022

“Each tree,” Luke will soon explain, “is known by its own fruit.” (Luke 6:44) When Gabriel speaks the command of God, a prophet is born of Elizabeth to “turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.” (Luke 1:16) Likewise, at Gabriel’s command, the Messiah is conceived in Mary’s womb, to…

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The Bible as Literature

The Way

Vexed

Teach Me Thy Statues

Tewahido Bible Study

Tell Me the Story

Doulos

Ears to Hear

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