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Writing

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

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Leviticus

Clean, Unclean & Up

“The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man,” wrote Chesterton. Leviticus 11 stands as a lovely example of his sentiment. Designations of “clean” and “unclean” first appear in Genesis 7 with no explanation other than “clean” animals being later utilized as acceptable sacrifices to Yahweh (Gen…

by Ben LoveladyAugust 26, 2025
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Biblical Theology

Adam's Dominion from Atoms to Angels

TIME magazine announced this summer that scientists at Colossal Biosciences in Dallas, Texas had resurrected the long extinct dire wolf through gene editing of gray wolves and modern canines. The dire wolf is a relative of modern wolves, though it’s unclear exactly what their relationship with them is, whether they…

by Jackson WatersAugust 21, 2025
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Baptism

Sprinkling for Everyone: Practicing Biblical Baptisms 

Through my years of pastoring in a Presbyterian context, I’ve had many conversations about the propriety of paedo-baptism versus credo-baptism. From time to time, a congregant will become convinced that paedo-baptism is the biblical practice. But baptism by sprinkling? Never! “That’s not in the Bible,” they’ll say. “The Bible clearly…

by Lyndon JostAugust 19, 2025
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The Problem of the All-Controlling Heart

I have written a book on this and related issues, especially as addressed in Proverbs. If you want to see these thoughts further developed (which is new material based on my reflections on Proverbs), check out Solomon Says . Is asking God for a new heart always right or sometimes…

by Mark HorneAugust 13, 2025
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A Plea for Biblical Scholars

In the Abolition of Man C.S. Lewis utilized a common English textbook to explain the unacknowledged and self-contradictory philosophy undergirding much of the humanities departments in his day. I am no Jack Lewis. But perhaps this essay might prod one of my intellectual betters to take on a similar task…

by Zach MccartneyAugust 5, 2025
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Christian Nationalism

Notes on Christian Nationalism: Origins and Fault Lines

This primer on Christian nationalism grew mainly out of discussions on X. The term “Christian nationalism,” as I use it here, has become something of an umbrella term for conservative/traditional Protestants who want to see Christian influence on national life and culture. Obviously, some see problems with the label –…

by Rich LuskAugust 4, 2025

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Proverbs 28:4-6

PROVERBS 28:4 Law ( torah ) is mentioned about a dozen times in Proverbs.  Most of the uses refer to the torah of a mother (1:8) or a father (3:1), and in these uses the emphasis is on the fact that torah is “instruction” rather than strictly “law” in our…

November 20, 2009

Barth’s modernity

Discussing Barth’s distinction of the “church of Esau” and the “church of Jacob” in the Romerbrief , Michael Horton ( People and Place: A Covenant Ecclesiology ) gets Barth’s weaknesses exactly right.  First, “Barth seems to assume that ‘secularity’ is neutral, objective, descriptive science” and second “Barth can only place…

November 19, 2009
Economics

Conservatism and the Market

Kinneging points out the ambiguous relationship that traditional conservatism has often had with the market: “No conservative will deny that a system of mutual provision of services, based on a range of evil affects residing within man - which are further inflamed by the unrestricted operation of that system -…

November 19, 2009

Manichean conservatism

In The Geography of Good and Evil: Philosophical Investigations (Crosscurrents) , Dutch philosopher Andreas Kinneging argues that the conservative objection to the Enlightenment is not only intellectual but has to do with the will: “It is the view of conation that characterizes conservatism more than anything else.”  That view is…

November 19, 2009

Organ of wisdom

The eternal Word, being proper to the Father’s being, cannot advance.  Yet, Scripture says that Jesus advances in wisdom and stature.  Athanasius appeals to the incarnation: He is advancing humanly.  But, as always, what the Word does in the flesh is done for us: “Neither then was the advance the Word’s,…

November 19, 2009

Weaker vessels

Peter describes women as “weaker vessels” (1 Pet 3:7).  That sounds like an insult.  Is it? First, vessels in Scripture are almost always temple vessels, implements of temple worship.  Hebrew 9:21 is one of the NT passages that uses the word in this specific sense.  Other uses in the NT…

November 18, 2009

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