Biblical Studies

As we pass Labor Day and settle into the fall, I want to label a few of the most influential ideas about work in Western thought and invite you, my reader, to see which thoughts might be informing you and supplanting more biblical ideas about work. Without further ado Most Greeks thought work was a...
The event of Israel’s exodus from Egypt is not just an historical Old Testament account, but a more complex theme that resonates throughout the Scriptures. Jonathan and James sit down with Bryan Estelle to explore Echoes of Exodus: Tracing a Biblical Motif. Bryan walks us through several passages--...
Christ and Covenant Theology Jonathan and James invite Dr. Cornelis Venema for a conversation about his collection of essays entitled Christ and Covenant Theology. But what is Covenant Theology? Dr. Venema offers a rich definition, making a distinction between the covenant of works and the covenant...
Interpreting Scripture with The Great Tradition Jonathan and James meet with Craig Carter to talk about his recent book, considered (by some) to be controversial--Interpreting Scriptures with the Great Tradition: Recovering the Genius of Premodern Exegesis. Craig talks about the growing gulf...
A fashion designer goes about creating clothes for people with a keen sense of how the parts and the whole will best fit together. The designer does not just throw fabric, thread, and needles into the wind but carefully draws patterns and then every stitch brings the pieces together. So ... God is...
Genesis 1-2 reveals that God created in an orderly way and a cosmic order with everything having a function based on what he created it to be. In other words, when we use the phrase “the design of creation” we ought to understand the word “creation” as both a noun and a verb. Creation refers not...
The Bible teaches that God has created all things. His purpose is ultimately to display His glory and majesty. Thus, creation is “good” and “very good” in Genesis 1 because God made and ordered the creation. He is pleased with His handiwork. The glory of creation is a shining forth of God’s glory...
Within the early verses of Genesis, we find not only the source of the universe but also the source of every woman’s identity. The story of our first mother, Eve, has much to tell us about the purpose of women on this earth. Imago Dei The first piece of Eve’s identity is the fact that she was made...
In Genesis 1, humanity is created and introduced to us as ‘made in the image of God.’ The description of humanity in Genesis 1 is foundational for the Christian worldview. The moral and ethical implications abound from the single statement than humanity is made in God’s image. In this brief post,...
How important are the first chapters of Genesis to our understanding of the whole of Scripture? What happens to our perspective if we isolate Genesis 1-3 from the rest of God’s Word? Richard Barcellos drops in. He’s written Getting the Garden Right: Adam’s Work and God’s Rest in Light of Christ...