Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
This essay is adapted from my articles in Theopolis’s In Medias Res as a series of Holy Week meditations. Like many celebrities such as Kanye or Beyoncé or Adele, Josquin des Prez (d. 1521) was often known only by his first name, in his own time as now. “Josquin” is…
Sight is a major theme in the scriptures. The church has long identified sight’s relationship to the future fulfillment of the eschaton. As Paul says, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1 Cor 13.12). Sight is associated with…
What is the chief end of man? —yes, to glorify God and enjoy him forever. But how ought man–and all creation–so glorify him? I propose a Theopolitan addition to the catechism, question and answer number 1.5, begun in the last question and answered as follows: Earth’s inhabitants were created to…
Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. Genesis 49:21 Frederick Buechner once said, “We move into the extraordinary by way of the ordinary.” In poetry, this happens by way of a compressed code of analogs; often, two or more very ordinary things begin to reveal something that…
The evangelical milieu of America has often lost a vision of the fruit of repentance. We tend to simplify repentance by asking for forgiveness. After all, Jesus tells Peter to forgive 70 times 7. This verse must be paired with Paul’s scoffing at the question: why not sin more so…
I. The hemorrhaging woman. En route to Jairus’ house, Jesus is touched by a woman with a hemorrhage of blood (Matt 9:18–26; Mk 5:21–34; Lk 8:40–48). The story is one that many of us know very well. She has been yoked to her illness for twelve years, all of her…
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One of the best and most comprehensive of the new works on the development of Nicene theology is John Behr’s Formation of Christian Theology . The second volume covers the “Nicene Faith,” examining the theological background of the Arian debate, the development of the controversy, and the theologies of Athanasius…
To observe Lent rightly, we have to be persuaded that we already stand in God’s favor. Ash Wednesday reminds us to number our days. It helps us gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12). We keep Easter to manifest and deepen our prior share in resurrection. We observe Lent to…
Revelation 14 is filled with “another angel” characters. It's odd, because “another angel” appears before there's an angel to be anothered to. How can there be another angel when they ain't been an angel in the first place? The phrase allos aggelos is sued six time (14:6, 8, 9, 15,…
Analyses of two scenes from The Thin Red Line in Steven Rybin's Terrence Malick and the Thought of Film , Michel Chion's The Thin Red Line , and Lloyd Michaels's Terrence Malick illustrate the almost unfathomable density of Malick's films. In the first scene, Dale, one of the soldiers of…
After the harvest of Revelation 14, John sees another great sign in heaven, angels with bowls full of the passion of God (Revelation 15:1). As he watches, the “temple of the tabernacle of the testimony ( ho naos tes skenes tou marturiou ) in heaven” is opened (15:5) and angels…
Mark Cousins once clipped a weed from the grave of David Hume, taped it to a piece of paper, and sent it to Terrence Malick's agent. Not long after, Malick himself called, wanting to talk philosophy. Cousins recounts this in his contribution to The Cinema of Terrence Malick , and…
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