In his continuing commentary on the story of David dancing before the ark of the covenant in 2 Samuel 6, Robert Barron observes that there is another aspect of the passage that is puzzling to modern readers. Namely, how on earth could anyone dance before the law? (We must remember that the tablets of the Ten Commandments were housed within the ark.) Barron observes, “it would be difficult to imagine anyone dancing with joy before the tax code or the latest motor vehicle statutes, or even before the U.S. Constitution.” 1 However, David and the people of Israel dance with all their might before the law! Continue reading What Does Sinai Have to Do With Augusta?→
Robert Barron, 2 Samuel (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2015), 60. ↩
I have been following the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible series with great interest since the publication of its first volume over ten years ago. The central premise of the series is that “the Nicene tradition, in all of its diversity and controversy, provides the proper basis for the interpretation of the Bible as Christian scripture.” 1Continue reading The Dance Goes On→
R.R. Reno, series preface in Robert Barron, 2 Samuel (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2015), xiv. ↩
On Saturday, my family laid to rest my wife’s grandmother. On Sunday morning, Christians throughout the world gathered to celebrate the resurrection. I missed both gatherings. Continue reading The Lord of the Dance→
James Pedlar, Assistant Professor of Wesley Studies and Theology at Tyndale Seminary, arranged for the faculty to share in conversation over lunch today with visiting scholar Donald Dayton. Dayton is a theologian who has done extensive work on the Holiness and Pentecostal traditions. Two of his most well-known works are Discovering an Evangelical Heritage and Theological Roots of Pentecostalism. The conversation centered on questions surrounding evangelical identity and narrating the history of evangelicalism. Continue reading The Question of Evangelical Identity→
The following is the text of a sermon I preached this past Sunday as a guest speaker at Toronto Chinese Alliance Church. The congregation has been working its way through a sermon series on the book of Judges. I was assigned the daunting task of preaching on the Samson story (Judges 13-16).
For the past week, my thoughts have been preoccupied by a single figure. A blustery and boisterous man, noted for his both his crudity and his cruelty. A man whose track record of troubled relationships with women is well-known. A man who is thought to stand as a paragon of strength and power, despite the strange coif of hair on his head. A bully, who always seems to be the last man standing. A man seemingly tasked with the responsibility of making his nation great again. Continue reading A Matter of Life and Death: A Samson Sermon→
