Selected Reading, January 29, 2022

 

A few covid and politics free reading suggestions for you.

Bible Interpretation

Context Matters: Moses’ Shining Face
Why did Moses veil his face after he came down from the mountain with a shining face? What was going on? What can we learn from a careful reading of the text? I’d never heard this explanation, but it makes a lot of sense of the story as told to us in scripture. What do you think? (This isn’t a new piece, but I just recently found it.)

Christian History

Medieval Christian Brides
From Simonetta Carr, a look at the lives of three medieval Christian wives married off to unbelievers.

The biblical rule of not marrying unbelievers wasn’t always binding in the first centuries of Christianity, especially when it came to the nobility. Priority was given to political concerns and family alliances. And, at a time when rulers determined the religion of their people, church leaders encouraged the Christian wives who found themselves in high places to work toward the conversion of their husbands.

Marriage to an unbelieving husband was frequently viewed as a mission—missionary marriage, I guess.

Classic Fiction

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
I read a novel from each of the three Bronte sister authors in 2021. I’ve already linked to the first two—Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I finished the Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Emily Bronte in December. I’d say it’s way better than Wuthering Heights, which was much too weird for me, and almost as good as Jane Eyre, which I highly recommended. It has some interesting themes—heavy drinking and domestic abuse, to name two. It also seems to promote universal salvation, which might annoy some of you, I suppose. I mostly ignored those parts.

Selected Reading, December 11, 2021

 

A few good things I read recently.

Prayer

Should we pray imprecatory prayers?
Aaron Armstrong says yes. 

You can understand why some Christians would reject praying in this way altogether. It seems in conflict with Jesus’ call for us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. But I don’t believe the full counsel of Scripture supports that. Imprecatory prayers modeled in both the Old and New Testaments (Matthew 23; Galatians 1:8-9; Revelation 6:10). Jesus and the apostles alike prayed in this way. We probably shouldn’t dismiss these sorts of prayers and petitions, then.

I may have mentioned this here previously, but I once heard a sermon in which the preacher chalked an imprecatory bit in one of the psalms to the immaturity of the psalm’s author, so I know from experience that some people do reject all imprecatory prayers. But everytime we pray for God to bring justice for someone who has been harmed, we are praying an imprecatory prayer.

Words 

Big Bible Words: Atonement
A great little essay on the biblical word atonement. And it starts with a double nightmare.

A Mystery

Who wrote Hebrews?
We discussed this pretty thoroughly at the beginning of the Hebrews Bible study I attend. This is an excellent examination of this New Testament mystery.

Romans and Hebrews, of similar length, may be the two great pillar epistles of Christian theology, and yet far more is known, and certain, about Romans. With Romans, we get the systematically reasoned heart of Paul. With Hebrews, we get another learned, powerful, complementary voice — but whose? 

Birds

Bathing is crucial for a bird’s longevity
All the reasons birds need baths. 

Selected Reading, November 26, 2021

 

It’s been so long since I’ve done one of these, so some of these links are a bit already. Still, here are a few theologically rich recommendations for your weekend reading.

In the Beginning

Does It Really Matter Whether Adam Was the First Man?
Yes, it does, and it matters a whole lot. 

The historical reality of Adam is an essential means of preserving a Christian account of sin and evil, a Christian understanding of God, and the rationale for the incarnation, cross, and resurrection. 

This is a very thorough argument, and outstanding piece. (I might have one very minor quibble, but it doesn’t take away from his argument at all.) 

The Word Became Flesh

A Glorious Doctrine with a Silly Name
If that title doesn’t make you want to check out this article, nothing I add here will, either.

Apollinarianism
When I update the Theological Term for Apollinarianism (it’s on my to-do list), I’ll link this from Simply Put. But you don’t have to wait. You can read it right now.