Matthew 26:6-13 - While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to Him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on His head as He was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant.
I. 1. The Strategy Is Not Corruption First, but Dehumanization In the 1973 film The Exorcist, a younger priest, Father Karras, asks the seasoned exorcist Father Merrin why the demon has chosen to possess a young girl. Merrin’s response articulates one of the most profound theological truths ever voiced
I. 1. The Third-Century Plagues: A World Coming Apart During the 3rd century, the Roman world was hit by at least two catastrophic pandemics: * The Antonine Plague (late 2nd century spillover, likely smallpox) * The Cyprian Plague (c. AD 249–262) Contemporary sources (including Cyprian of Carthage and Dionysius of
I. 1. Jacob on the Run: Humanity Under a Just Judgment Jacob functions not merely as an individual patriarch but as a representative human—adam writ small—and the wrestling scene in Genesis 32 becomes a compressed anthropology and soteriology. Jacob is fleeing a threat that is entirely justified. Esau’
I. 1. The Biological Pattern: Use It or Lose It In nature, vision is metabolically expensive. Eyes require constant energy, neural processing, and upkeep. When light ceases to be useful, evolution does not preserve sight out of sentimentality. Well-documented examples: * Cavefish (e.g., Astyanax mexicanus) Born with rudimentary eyes
I. 1. The Call to Leave: From Command to Choice There is a deep and intentional biblical resonance between Ruth leaving her people and Abraham leaving his land and kin. Scripture is not merely repeating a motif; it is refining it. Ruth’s story reads as a later, embodied commentary
I was curious to explore how the Enuma Elish, sometimes lauded as reliable simply because it is more ancient than the Torah, approaches the concept of relationship between humans and the divine and then contrast that to the correcting view of the latter text. I. 1. Enuma Elish: Humanity in
I. 1. David: Darkness Cannot Hide Us from God There is no meaningful life, truth, or refuge outside the presence of God—and therefore no viable alternative to Him. Psalm 139:11–12 - If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even
I. The Tapestry: What We See vs. What Is The image works because it addresses a core biblical tension: limited perception versus ultimate reality. From our side of history, life looks like the back of a tapestry—knots, loose threads, abrupt color changes, apparent waste. Nothing seems symmetrical. Much appears
Read together, Psalms 22 and 23 reveal a deliberately layered theological and pastoral arc. They are not merely adjacent in the Psalter; they function as a paired testimony that moves through death, not around it, and in doing so disclose a larger picture of trust, deliverance, and communion with God.
I. The Three-Story Brain Model This model (popularized by Dan Siegel) is a useful functional framework for understanding emotional dysregulation without pathologizing it. In brief: * Upstairs brain (prefrontal cortex): reasoning, empathy, moral judgment, impulse control, long-range vision. * Downstairs brain (limbic system): emotions, memory, attachment, threat detection. * Smoke detector
I. 1. What We Mean by “Willpower” Willpower is the human capacity to restrain impulses, delay gratification, and choose a course of action contrary to immediate desire. Biblically and philosophically, it aligns most closely with: * Volition (the choosing faculty) * Self-control (ἐγκράτεια, enkrateia) * Discipline of behavior It is important to