It is significant in understanding the ways in which the scriptures function as a whole that our Lord Jesus Christ not only died, but specifically died by crucifixion. As an instrument of torture and death perfected by the Romans, the cross is an odd choice to be the primary symbol of a religion. Not only does it represent a terrible death for which the word “excruciating” was coined to describe the pain involved, it was also a means of public humiliation. Crucified individuals were crucified naked, exposed to the elements, and left to die over the course of what sometimes took days. The Romans often then left the bodies where they were to decompose, only throwing them into massive graves…
As modern people, when we think of the sun and the stars, we think of masses of incandescent gas; gigantic nuclear furnaces in which hydrogen is transformed into helium at, literally, astronomical temperatures. When we think of the moon, we think of a large dusty rock which orbits around the earth every 27 days. At some level, we are aware that ancient people did not think of them this way. We believe that our modern understanding is superior because it is based on mathematics and scientific observation. Ancient explanations and descriptions are viewed as quaint folktales and myths now supplanted by real knowledge. This creates a difficulty for modern readers of the holy scriptures, as those scriptures are quickly seen…
Though he is far from a household name, Jeroboam, son of Nebat is one of the most important figures in Biblical history. As the first king and founder of the independent northern kingdom of Israel, he became the paradigmatic wicked king. He is, in many way, the first schismatic and heretic in the history of God’s people. In addition to creating the northern political structures, he began an alternative religious system that would not only endure in the northern kingdom throughout its existence, but even make inroads into the southern kingdom of Judah. Under the later Omride dynasty, the kingdom which he founded would become a regional power and at least for a time far surpass the southern kingdom of…
It is a commonplace in St. Paul’s theology for the apostle to refer to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ as a unified phrase (cf. Rom 1:4, 7; 5:1, 11; 6:23; 7:25; 8:39; 15:6, 30; 16:20; 1 Cor 1:2-3, 9-10; 8:6; 15:57; 2 Cor 1:2-3; Gal 1:3; Eph 1:2-3, 17; 5:20; 6:23; Phi 1:2; 2:11; Col 1:3; 1 Thess 1:1, 3; 5:9; 2 Thess 1:1-2, 12; 2:16; 1 Tim 1:2; 2 Tim 1:2; Phil 1:3). Within the context of 1 Corinthians 8:6, St. Paul makes this formulation based on integrating Christ into the shema of Deuteronomy 6:4. This formulation ultimately became the basis for the phraseology of the Nicene Creed. The relationship between these two persons, the Father…
