We are all too familiar with rioting and unrest in our streets. But riots over theology? Over one letter of the Greek alphabet–literally one iota? Yet the Arian controversy of the fourth century was a decisive juncture for the Church.…
Introduction Though often treated as an ancient heresy confined to the early centuries of the church, Gnosticism remains a persistent theological temptation. Its modern expressions are rarely labeled as such, yet its core instincts continue to surface in Christian teaching,…
Flags represent the spirit and identity of countries and serve as national rallying points both in peace and wartime. In the film The Patriot (2000), Mel Gibson’s character hoists a flag in the thick of battle to inspire his fellow…
Siblings have ways of tormenting each other. A boy will position his finger about an inch from his sister’s shoulder and say, “I’m not touching you!” And few things are as creepy as someone staring at you, even if it’s…
The Name In Genesis 17, the covenant community is in crisis. Abram had been called by the Lord out of darkness and into light. He had been given incredible promises, including offspring (Gen. 12:1-3). God had reiterated his promise: “Your…
YHWH, the Tetragrammaton traditionally transliterated as YAHWEH[1] and translated in Scripture as “LORD,” “GOD,” “JEHOVAH,” and “JAH”[2] is the most used name for God and especially sacred. It assumes a developing covenantal significance during redemptive history in Exodus 3:13-15; 6:1-8—there…
Imagine a father and son in the car talking about the important matters of life. The radio is on, but it provides only background noise. However, at a pause in the conversation both father and son realize that the radio…
As Athenagoras examined Christianity in the second century, he found it utterly absurd. A religion about a man who was executed as a criminal and returned in a resurrected body? How primitive, he thought! Following Plato, any respectable philosopher knew…
Every good parent at some point worries about who her child is spending time with. We know “bad company corrupts good morals” (1 Cor. 15:33, ESV),[1] and so we don’t want our children hanging out with any ne’re-do-wells. The book…
“An Apple a Day…” Among other hobbies, I enjoy subjecting my loved ones to proverbial malaphors. “We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it.” “Get all your ducks on the same page.” “Too many cooks killed the cat.” Et…
