The text of Leviticus 21:16-24 proscribes the blemished priest from serving in the Sancta. Combining theories like Mary Douglas’ early perception of holiness=wholeness and Schipper and Stackert’s perception of the blemished priest as an affront to YHWH, the great king, both biblical and disability scholars understand this priest as an unappealing representative due to their … Read more
This study contributes to the theological discourse by demonstrating that, within the theology of certain latter prophets, the Shekinah—understood as God’s visible and active presence—moves heavenward following its departure from the Solomonic temple, and does not return to the earthly temple until God intervenes through His cleansing of the people and re-building initiatives of the … Read more
As is commonly observed, Job 42:10 depicts Job’s restoration with the phrase שׁב את־שׁבית [שׁבות] which is dominantly associated with corporate return from exile elsewhere in the Old Testament. Building on this observation, this paper proposes that the Joban Epilogue contains numerous other allusions to the ‘return from exile’ motif, especially as that motif is … Read more
No book of the Old Testament speaks of God as one who forms and enacts plans (עצה, מעשׂה, etc.) in the world as much as Isaiah. Such theologically pregnant language, of course, has inspired a variety of constructs. Some equate references to Yhwh’s עצה with the notion of an eternal divine decree that unfolds indelibly … Read more
The study of the theology and ethics of the Old Testament is a well-traversed path in scholarship. For this area of study, scholars have attempted to provide equal weight to the entirety of the canon in order to better understand its theological and ethical vision as a whole rather than only focus upon one book … Read more
This paper explores the theological significance of the creation of light and darkness in Genesis 1:2-3, emphasizing these elements’ contrasting roles in biblical cosmology. While light is depicted as an inherent attribute of God, symbolizing life, goodness, and creation, darkness is understood as a non-world—a state of cosmic disorder and potential non-existence. The creation narrative, … Read more
The effect of urbanization, globalization, technological advancement, migration, and the environmental crisis on human relation to place has spurred much recent theological reflection, such as in John Inge’s A Christian Theology of Place or Craig Bartholomew’s Where Mortals Dwell: A Christian View of Place for Today. Though theologies of place have largely been absent in … Read more