The title of my second doctoral dissertation is “Torn Veil in the Temple: God’s Commentary on the Death of His Son and Epicenter of His New Creation in Christ.” My thesis is as follows:

“The torn veil in the temple is God’s commentary on the death of his Son and the epicenter of his new creation in Christ. It is visual theology from heaven signaling the start of the promised new covenant era through a dramatic display of divine vandalism. The paradoxical result of this token judgment on the temple is universal access to God’s relational presence and the restoration of Edenic shalom for those who embrace the Son, as the cherubim guarding the tree of life have been dismissed from their post. Humanity can walk with God again freely, undefiled by the ravages of guilt, shame, and despair. Because the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom at the precise moment of Jesus’s death on the cross—the world’s final purification offering—one may be confident that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.”

Though I’ve never met him, I’d like to offer a word of thanks to Dr. Daniel M. Gurtner, whose work on this subject has inspired my own. In his dissertation, Gurtner suggests no less than ten areas of additional research for helping the church better understand what the torn veil signifies. He wants to “prompt scholars to rearrange the pieces of this puzzle in a different yet coherent manner.”

My dissertation seeks to build on his estimable work and rearrange some of the pieces. In short, it seeks to create a biblical theology of the veil using a historical-contextual approach. It’s truly a labor of love on a topic that has tantalized me more than any other since I first met Jesus Christ by faith back when I was a freshman swimmer at West Virginia University.

More to come later. (At this rate, much later, though I’m working on it!) Anyway, here is the outline: