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Writing

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

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Biblical Studies

Biblical Allusion and the Meaning of Othello

Understanding Shakespeare’s Biblical references is vital for the interpretation of many, if not all, of Shakespeare’s plays. For Othello , it is especially important, not only because the interpretation of the play is contested among various approaches — feminist, homosexual, post-colonial, Marxist, Freudian, new historical, and others — but also…

by Ralph Allan SmithJune 16, 2017
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Ecclesiology

Attaining Unity: A Reply to Mike Allen

Mike Allen of Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, scores some points in his review of The End of Protestantism . He lodges the fair complaint that my rhetoric sometimes outruns my evidence. He argues that more stress on the present reality of the church’s unity deepens the tragedy of division; divisions…

by Peter LeithartJune 13, 2017
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Eschatology

Comic Trinity

I begin with two observations. First, on any millennial view, the Christian account of history is progressive, moving from the garden to the city. It is eschatological not only in that there is an end, but that the end is a glorified beginning, not merely a return to origins. To…

by Peter LeithartJune 8, 2017
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Ecclesiology

Political Church

The church is a new form of polity that erupts into the world as much as the Son of God comes into the world. It’s a real-world political alternative to the polities of the ancient world. It resolves many of the political dilemmas of the ancient world, though not simply…

by Peter LeithartJune 6, 2017
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Baptism

Baptism Impasse: Baptists vs. Presbyterians, (Part 2)

In my last post , I explained how Baptists really have a “one-ordinance-one sacrament” ecclesiology. I said this: “what Baptists really believe, in modern parlance, is that there is one ordinance (baptism which is a sign or symbol only) and one sacrament (the Lord’s Supper in which feeding upon Jesus…

by Mani MarprelateMay 30, 2017
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Political Theology

Obedience of Rulers

One of the most extensive and penetrating responses to the Yoder-Hauerwas attack on Constantiniansm is found in Oliver O’Donovan’s Desire of Nations , in a chapter entitled “The Obedience of Rulers.” O’Donovan defines the word “Christendom” as “a historical idea,” specifically “the idea of a professedly Christian secular political order,…

by Peter LeithartMay 30, 2017

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Literature

Achilles and Coriolanus

In his study of Shakespeare’s use of the heroic tradition of classical antiquity, Hero & Saint , Reuben Brower points out that Coriolanus is modeled on the ancient heroes of Greece and Rome, particularly Achilles: “Perhaps Coriolanus is most like Achilles in his passionate pride, in his ‘choler,’ in his…

February 24, 2005

Calvin on Justification

Craig Carpenter offers a careful comparison of Calvin and Trent on justification in an article in WTJ (2002). A few specifics: 1) He summarizes the Tridentine position by following Robert Godfrey’s analysis, but perceptively suggests that Godfrey illegitimately collapses everything into an opposition of infusion/imputation: “His focus on the language…

February 24, 2005

Some Notes on 1 Kings 19

1) Jezebel sends a messenger, a mal?ak , which in Hebrew is the same word as angel, anticipating the angel of Yahweh later in the chapter. The chapter shows us contrasting angels, an angel of death and an angel that raises the ?dead?Ewith a touch and gives food. 2) Jezebel…

February 23, 2005

Translation, 1 Kings 19

And announced ?Achav to ?Iyzevel all which did ?Eliyyahu And all which he killed all the prophets by the sword. And send ?Iyzevel an angel to Eliyyahu saying, ?Thus may the Elohim do And thus may they add If according to the time tomorrow I set your soul according to…

February 23, 2005

Sermon Outline, February 27

INTRODUCTION At the end of the previous chapter, Elijah ?ran before?EAhab back to Jezreel. This is not just a sign of the Lord?s empowerment of Elijah; it is an offer to Ahab to receive Elijah as his chief advisor. As soon as Ahab tells Jezebel about it, however, that arrangement…

February 23, 2005
Theology

Mediology and Theology

A number of years ago, Regis Debray introduced the notion of “mediology” in an article in Le Monde . His intention was to break down the divisions between technology and culture, to show that the “higher” expressions of culture were shaped and even dependent upon the technologies by which they…

February 22, 2005

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