During his trial, Jesus is frequently, remarkably silent. This is particularly striking in John, where Jesus has been identified as the eternal Word of the Father. But when Jew and Gentile combine to put the Word of the Father in the dock, the Word says nothing. Is there here perhaps an anticipation of modern atheism, which puts God on trial and finds Him guilty? Read more
During his trial, Jesus is frequently, remarkably silent. This is particularly striking in John, where Jesus has been identified as the eternal Word of the Father. But when Jew and Gentile combine to put the Word of the Father in the dock, the Word says nothing. Is there here perhaps an anticipation of modern atheism, which puts God on trial and finds Him guilty? Read more
INTRODUCTION Scripture demands that we honor our fathers and mothers, the past of our family. But families only exist because of a break with the past. To form a family, a man and woman leave their families and cleave to one another to form a new family for the future. Families have to work out tensions between honoring the past and aiming for the future. THE TEXT “And the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that man should be... Read more
John 9 tells an exodus story: The man born blind crosses through water, from darkness to light. Perhaps this is also a Jordan crossing, because as soon as he passes through the water he is involved in warfare with the Jews. But there’s another liminal moment in the story: Having crossed through the water and fought with the Jews, he is pushed over the threshold of the synagogue outside the camp. Through this double-crossing he finds Jesus and confesses faith.... Read more
The man born blind in John 9 is reborn by clay, spittle, and a bath in Siloam. He is so transformed that people don’t know if he’s the same man (v. 9). At this point, he barely knows who Jesus is. Pressured by the Pharisees, he confesses Jesus as a prophet (v. 17), but he doesn’t explicitly confess faith until Jesus reappears to him after he’s been cast out of the synagogue (v. 38). This is an infant baptism: Not... Read more
Luke 22:18-19: Jesus said, I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes. And when he had taken some of the bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me. I’ve said in the sermon that human life is always lived on the cross, distended between a... Read more
Churches, families, and nations have memories, just as much as individuals. But while individual memory tends to be more or less automatic unless there is some physiological problem, group memories need to be cultivated. Over the course of generations, groups don’t maintain their memory without conscious effort. Groups maintain memories by teaching – older members pass on the memory of the group to the younger. Groups maintain memories by ceremonies and holidays – everyone recalls the events of the past... Read more
This paper is an exploration of the modern urban situation, how it differs from the older cities, and the challenges modern urban/suburban civilization poses for Christianity. All of America, ERH claims, is urbanized by industry, which removes the barriers between city and country. The contrast of factory and suburb has replaced the older contrast of city and village. Though there is no really rural area anymore, “citified humanity” divides time between fast-paced curiosity and slower-paced apathy. These have always been... Read more
According to our translations, the OT describes idols as “vain” (eg, Isaiah 57:13), but the word used is the same as the word in Ecclesiastes – and is better translated as “vaporous.” The point is not simply that idols are worthless, but that they are ephemeral. Idols may provide all sorts of apparent goods – pleasure, social unity, occasions for festivity. But the goods they provide are not lasting because the idols are not lasting. Idols are mist also in... Read more
In his study of Judaic Baptism, James W. Dale quotes Jewish War , 3.7, where Josephus speaks of a city being, in Dale’s translation, “overmersed” ( epibaptizo ). Dale comments, “It is intolerable to suppose that a city is figured, through the departure of an individual [in this case, Josephus himself] as dipped into water, immersed in the sea, overwhelmed by a flood, or sunk in the ocean.” Really? It seems perfectly consistent with biblical imagery to suggest a city... Read more
Leithart
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In