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Writing

Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.

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Technology

Simulation as Inoculation

Every advent of new media creates the justifiable reaction from some that the necessarily accompanied amputation may not be worth the extension made possible by the new tools. This is not unique to the Digital Age. Lamoignon Malesherbes, the French politician who was counsel for the defense of Louis XVI,…

by Garrett SoucyApril 2, 2024
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Eschatology

Reject Optimism

A response to Gage Crowder's " The Hole in our Hope ?" Already, the first pages of the Bible promise a bright future. The story starts with the creation of heaven and earth, where heaven is perfect, but the earth is in a state of formless emptiness. Yet, God takes…

by Bogumil JarmulakMarch 27, 2024
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Eschatology

The Hole in our Hope? A Rejoinder

A rejoinder to Bubu Jarmulak's essay, " Embrace Pessimism ." Whereas calumnious critiques are reflections of more on the critic than the work criticized, good critiques are always opportunities for reassessment and improvement if they are received as such . Since its renaissance, the biblical doctrine of postmillennialism—or “optimistic eschatology,”…

by Gage CrowderMarch 26, 2024
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Biblical Studies

Jesus Did Not Pray to Avoid the Cross at Gethsemane

Several decades ago, a pastor (and friend) mentioned in passing at one of our regular breakfasts together that he wasn’t satisfied with the usual reading of Jesus’s prayer in Gethsemane, the usual reading being that Jesus asked the Father to avoid the Cross at Gethsemane. We turned to the passage,…

by James R. RogersMarch 19, 2024
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Church Music

Holy Toledo: A Critique of Eclecticism

On May 21, 1604, the cathedral of Toledo in Spain held job interviews for the post of choirmaster, the head of music at the church. The position had been vacated when the previous occupant, Alonso Lobo, was poached by the nearby cathedral of Seville, and Toledo needed a replacement who…

by John AhernMarch 5, 2024
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Covenant

The Docetic Covenant and Phantom Church Membership

Imagine — counterfactually: on the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus held up an empty hand and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant poured out for you. Drink of it.’ But there was no cup, no wine, nothing. If there’s no sign of the covenant, is there…

by John CarpenterFebruary 27, 2024

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Jesus’ silence

During his trial, Jesus is frequently, remarkably silent. This is particularly striking in John, where Jesus has been identified as the eternal Word of the Father. But when Jew and Gentile combine to put the Word of the Father in the dock, the Word says nothing. Is there here perhaps…

March 6, 2007

Sermon notes, Third Sunday of Lent

INTRODUCTION Scripture demands that we honor our fathers and mothers, the past of our family. But families only exist because of a break with the past. To form a family, a man and woman leave their families and cleave to one another to form a new family for the future.…

March 5, 2007

Exodus to light

John 9 tells an exodus story: The man born blind crosses through water, from darkness to light. Perhaps this is also a Jordan crossing, because as soon as he passes through the water he is involved in warfare with the Jews. But there’s another liminal moment in the story: Having…

March 5, 2007

Infant baptism

The man born blind in John 9 is reborn by clay, spittle, and a bath in Siloam. He is so transformed that people don’t know if he’s the same man (v. 9). At this point, he barely knows who Jesus is. Pressured by the Pharisees, he confesses Jesus as a…

March 5, 2007

Eucharistic meditation, Second Sunday of Lent

Luke 22:18-19: Jesus said, I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes. And when he had taken some of the bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is…

March 4, 2007
Theology

Exhortation, Second Sunday of Lent

Churches, families, and nations have memories, just as much as individuals. But while individual memory tends to be more or less automatic unless there is some physiological problem, group memories need to be cultivated. Over the course of generations, groups don’t maintain their memory without conscious effort. Groups maintain memories…

March 4, 2007

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