Why the Cross? Divine Friendship and the Power of Justice

Ligita Ryliลกkytฤ—, Why the Cross? Divine Friendship and the Power of Justice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023). 491pp. ISBN 9781009202763. Reviewed by Dr Rod Benson Published in the CUP series Current Issues in Theology, this book addresses the question, โ€œWhat does it mean for the cross of Christ to save?โ€ This book offers a fresh …

Taming the Beast: A Reception History of Behemoth and Leviathan

Mark R. Sneed, Taming the Beast: A Reception History of Behemoth and Leviathan (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2022). 288 pages. ISBN: 9783110579314. Reviewed by Dr Rod Benson William Blake, Behemoth and Leviathan, 1805. The poet and artist William Blake painted the image above, depicting the mythical biblical creatures Behemoth and Leviathan, in 1805. More recently, children's …

To creed or not to creed

Matthias Stom, โ€œThe Evangelists St Mark and St Luke,โ€ c.1635. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain. As I said in the first post in this series, none of the churches I attended as a child affirmed creeds or confessions of faith. The Bible alone was said to be our rule of faith. While I remain grateful for the spiritual …

Ten tips for better referencing

In academic writing, few conventions are more important than referencing. When writing an essay, report, journal article or book, referencing puts your work in context, and demonstrates the breadth and depth of your research. It acknowledges the work others have done that you have used (that is, it avoids plagiarism). Referencing also enables your readers …

The five pillars of writing

We are all writers. Think for a moment about the writing you have done during the past 24 hoursโ€”perhaps texting friends on your phone, writing a shopping list, entering words and other data into a computer, or making marks with a pen or pencil on a tablet, whiteboard or sheet of paper.  A lot of …