One of the central themes of the Pentateuch is the revelation of God’s proper name, YHWH. Below are seven summary theses drawn therefrom. (1) The revelation of the divine name is an act of divine condescension in which the high God stoops down and self-proclaims his name to us in our language (Exod 34:5; cf. […]
Retrieving the “royal metaphor”: reflections on Psalm 93
Theology is discourse concerning God: God in his being, attributes, persons, and works; God and all things in relation to God, from whom and through whom and to whom are all things (Rom 11:36). The principal subject matter of Christian theology has a proper name, “Yhwh,” which is the name of the Father and of […]
“Clothed with splendor and majesty”: reflections on the glory of the divine king
Psalm 104 celebrates God’s work of creation. It begins with a description of God’s work in creating the heavens and their inhabitants (vv. 1-4). It then moves to an extended discussion of God’s work of creating the earth and its inhabitants, including human beings, who have a special vocation as co-laborers with God in producing […]
The burning bush and the being of God: reflections on Exodus 3
I’m looking forward to delivering the Day-Higginbotham Lectures next week at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. (For more details, see here.) The theme of the two lectures is “God, the Bible, and Being.” By way of preview, below is an excerpt from the second lecture. The excerpt focuses on the ways God’s […]
On Christian hope: an Advent meditation on Psalms 42 & 43
Hope is an ordinary part of human agency. When we judge that the circumstances are right, and that we have sufficient resources of strength to act, we embark on a specific course of action in hope of completing it. We go to the grocery store, expecting that it will have the ingredients we need to […]
Notes on Book IV of the Psalter
One of my long-term research projects is a book on the divine attributes. The operating methodological thesis of the project is that learning to speak rightly of God (theology) requires learning to read the Bible rightly (hermeneutics). Related to that project, below are some notes, summarized under six headings, that I’ve put together on how […]
