At the table sat seven fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot, and the other three apostles who at the very least were Jews. If you’re like me and grew up in 21st century United States, then that probably wasn’t the most eyebrow raising description. Except for the tax collectors, because I don’t think the majority of us have happy feelings when we think of the IRS. But what was it actually like? The fishermen were...
Earlier this week, a friend of mine pulled out his phone and opened what looked like Google maps. Only, it looked more pixelated, and it showed not restaurants but Pokemon. I was introduced then to the new craze that is Pokemon Go. Pokemon Go is a virtual reality smartphone game in which players can find, capture, and battle Pokemon around the world. In the old games, you controlled a little character who would find a...
We believe what we sing, so it’s important to sing the most important doctrines of our faith. But I don’t think we give Jesus’ ascension the attention it deserves. Here is a beautiful hymn text that considers the Ascension biblically, theologically, and with implications for our lives, below with my comments: The author introduces us to the Ascended One with biblical allusions from the Psalms, most notably Psalm 24, from which Handel also helps us sing...
“Probably not pastoral.” I scribbled this note in the margins of Book IX of Augustine’s On the Trinity. He was in the middle of some obscure-sounding argument that the Trinity makes sense of the biblical idea that “God is love.” Because the act of love, “involves three things… a person who loves, that which is loved, and love,” we can understand that the Father loves the Son with the love who is the Holy Spirit. These...
Question of Origins What are the origins of Christian baptism? A quick perusal of the biblical texts might leave one perplexed as to the sudden appearance of baptism in the New Testament.1 Immediately and without explanation one is confronted with the appearance of John “the Baptist” and the practice of baptizing in water (Matt 3:1ff). Everyone except the reader (i.e., the author of the text itself, the people in the accounts, and perhaps even the...
Every year, millions of families flock to the Happiest Place on Earth for its infamously well-rounded, old-fashioned entertainment and rides. So many of these individuals will visit Disneyland a mere handful of times in their lives, some even only once. I have the unique privilege of visiting the park at least 3 times a week… and getting paid for it. Just kidding, I work there, but it’s easy to view an hourly job in a...
As I have shared a couple of times on the Two Cities, I have been reading Calvin’s Institutes this past school year and I finally finished. While I am no Calvin expert I am a huge fan of his work, so in addition to reading the Institutes this past school year I also frequently referenced Calvin’s commentaries in writing various papers. One of my favorite topics in theology and one that I enjoy tracking in...
Grief hurts. And it hurts for at least two reasons. There is on one hand the active pain of a particular loss. On the other, there is the God-problem: ‘How could God let this happen?’ I think C.S. Lewis gives us a great framework in his memoir, A Grief Observed. Three Views of God The occasion for Lewis’ reflections in A Grief Observed is the tragic death of his wife and his consequent grief. His reflections...
Computer generated illustration of two orbiting black holes emanating gravitational waves. (Image: Henze/NASA) Have you ever came across a news feed or article about something phenomenal and didn’t have a clue about it? You might begin to wonder whether or not you live under a rock or something… For me, one of the things that I found very fascinating (and over my head) was this news about gravitational waves. The fascinating part wasn’t necessarily the context,...
I’ve been thinking a lot about forgiveness these days. I wish I can say it began a few weeks ago when I saw this beautiful gesture of forgiveness displayed by the House of Peace Mosque in Connecticut, which was reminiscent of this inscrutable forgiveness extended to Dylann Roof by Emanuel Church in South Carolina. No, instead my recent fixation on the subject of forgiveness started a few weeks ago when I got in my car...
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