The industrious John Paul Heil has produced another book, this on the Gospel of Matthew. The subtitle captures his approach: “Worship in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Heil points out that the book begins with the announcement of God’s presence in Jesus, who is “God With Us,” and with the worship of the magi. It ends with the disciples worshiping Jesus before being commissioned to invite others to join their worship. Within that bracket, Heil focuses attention on what Matthew shows and... Read more
To John Ruskin’s eye, the economists of his time (John Stuart Mill, e.g.) had a reductive understanding of human nature. According to the economists, “The social affections . . . are accidental and disturbing elements in human nature; but avarice and the desire for progress are constant elements. Let us eliminate the inconstants, and, considering the human being merely as a covetous machine, examine by what laws of labour, purchase, and sale, the greatest accumulative result in wealth is attainable. Those laws once determined, it... Read more
Chris Cillizza suggests at CNN that The Simpsons can explain method behind Trump’s scandal du jour madness: “There’s an episode where ancient tycoon Monty Burns decides to get a physical. A set of tests is run. And the doctor informs Burns he is ‘the sickest man in the entire United States. You have everything.’ And yet, Mr. Burns is healthy. Why? Because all of the diseases in his body are jamming each other up as they try to attack his... Read more
George Kelling’s and James Q. Wilson’s famous and influential “Broken Windows” article raises a question more relevant today than when the article appeared in the Atlantic in 1982: What is policing for? Law enforcement, or community order? The two aren’t the same. They ask, “Should police activity on the street be shaped, in important ways, by the standards of the neighborhood rather than by the rules of the state?” And they point out, “Over the past two decades, the shift... Read more
In their classic 1982 article on “broken windows” policing, George Kelling and James Q. Wilson note that while many communities can self-police to some degree, actual uniformed police are essential: no citizen in a neighborhood, even an organized one, is likely to feel the sense of responsibility that wearing a badge confers. Psychologists have done many studies on why people fail to go to the aid of persons being attacked or seeking help, and they have learned that the cause is... Read more
In a 1981 article on “The Chronicler’s Solomon” in the Westminster Theological Journal (43:2), Ray Dillard lays out the following chiastic structure for the reign of Solomon (pp. 299-300): A. Solomon’s wealth and wisdom (1:1-17) (Trade in horses, 1:14-17) B. Recognition by gentiles/dealings with Hiram (2:1-16) ( Yahweh’s love for Israel, 2:11) C. Construction of temple/gentile labor (2:17-5:1) (Gentile labor, 2:17-18; Completion of temple, 5:1) D. Inauguration of temple worship (5:2-6:11)a. Assembly (5:2-3)b. Sacrifice and song (5:4-13)c. Glory cloud (5:13-14)d. Solomon speaks to the people (6:1-11 )... Read more
In his Ascension Theology, Douglas Farrow insists that, if the ascension is bodily, and if Jesus ascends with all His creaturehood intact, then the ascension must be to a place: “In the resurrection Jesus is already transfigured and transformed . . . in the ascension he is also translated or relocated. That is, he is taken up and placed by God he properly belongs, just as God once took Adam and put him in Eden.” Where is said place? The answer must... Read more
Raymond Barfield’s Wager is a lovely meditation on beauty, suffering, and the variety of philosophical “styles.” Everyone, not only philosophers, has a “philosophical style”: “Constructing a life is a philosophical act. Philosophical acts that are shaped by a life, and that shape a life, constitute philosophical style. . . . Philosophical style is not primarily about the sentences we create to state ideas, though the way we tell others about our experience is certainly part of it. Philosophical style is... Read more
Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, He ascended into heaven to take His place at the right hand of the Father (Acts 1:3). The New Testament regularly cites Psalm 110 as a prophecy of this event. Psalm 110 is patterned by three sets of seven clauses. Verses 1-2 make up the first sequence, verses 3-4 the second, and verses 5-7 the third. The sevenfold pattern alludes to the creation week, suggesting that the installation of the Lord at... Read more
At a recent Theopolis intensive course on political economy, James Jordan argued that only a theological treatment of value can account for the double-sidedness of the concept. On the one hand, certain goods have cross-cultural, trans-historical value; gold and silver have remarkable staying power as money or back-up for other forms of money. On the other hand, some goods have value only in very specific cultural circumstances; a lock of John Lennon’s hair is valuable in places where John Lennon... Read more
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