StephenBarkley.com

I found a great Christian Bookstore in Louisville during my summer holidays called Christian Book Nook. (Incidentally, it’s right beside a great local bakery that sells tasty Honey Buns.) Since I’m blogging through the Epistles of John, a used copy of Bultmann’s contribution to Hermeneia caught my attention. In discussing 1 John 1:4 on joy [...]

I’ve been saved thousands of times. I know this because of a nightly routine I followed for years as a kid. Each night, just before I’d fall asleep, I would remember some of the sinful things I did that day. Afraid that everyone would be raptured while I was asleep and that I would wake [...]

Hocus Pocus © 1990 New York: Berkley Books 325 pages If you’ve read Vonnegut, you’ll already know his distinct blend of irony and satire. If you’ve never read him, this is a good place to start. The humor in the narrative had me laughing out loud, while at the same time cringing from the truth [...]

Have you ever lived through an event so catastrophic that it made you question whether God was still with you? Using the life of Ezekiel, I want to encourage you with two truths: You’re not alone in your struggles—you’re in good company. God has never left you, despite all appearances to the contrary. Thanks to [...]

I came across some wisdom in a surprising place. At the end of the second volume of the Harvard Classics, George Long wrote an essay on the life of M. Aurelius Antoninus. After considering whether or not Antoninus took part in the pagan religious ceremonies of his day, he offers this: A prudent governor will [...]

I’m sure you’ve heard one. They like to stand at busy intersections to make themselves heard. They display a morbid fascination with the fate of the unrepentant, as viewed through the lens of people like Dante. These self-appointed prophets only seem to be happy with the negative. Rob Bell did a good job interpreting them [...]

Now My Eyes Have Seen You: Images of Creation and Evil in the Book of Job © 2002 From the series, New Studies in Biblical Theology, Vol. 17 InterVarsity Press 208 pages This book fascinated me. Fyall’s study uncovers references to Canaanite mythology that have long been hidden in favour of more naturalistic interpretations of [...]

I was reading Berry’s A Timbered Choir, when I came across verse that juxtaposes apocalyptic imagery from scripture with our abuse of the environment. It gave me chills. Nowhere is there an end except in smoke. This is the world that we have set on fire. This is the promised burning, darkening our light of [...]

“Gentlemen, gentlemen, and ladies: all theology is but a matter of emphasis.” These words were repeated often by John Stephenson, my Christology and Soteriology professor back in Bible College. The more I study, the more I find those words to be true. Take Jesus’ nature as an example. If you swing the pendulum of belief [...]

Greek Lyric Poetry: A New Translation © 2005 New York: W. W. Norton & Company 201 pages I stumbled across this gem in Petrolia’s own Family Discount Depot. True to the store’s name, the book was marked down to $3.00. After reading it, I believe it’s worth the full list price. Inside is 1300 years [...]