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

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American Culture

The Affections of Asbury

Over the past few days, quite the event has developed at Asbury University down in Wilmore, Kentucky. University students have appeared at the Hughes Auditorium to worship and sing praises to God, which has continued for over 90 hours at the time of this writing. There is recent reporting that…

by Charles JacobiFebruary 16, 2023
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Apostle Paul

Paul and Nero

It is well-enough known that Nero was emperor from AD 54 when he was just 16 until his death as a young man of 30 in AD 68, just 14 years later. Paul ministered during most of those 14 years (we are not sure which year he died), accomplishing 3…

by Ralph Allan SmithFebruary 14, 2023
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Apostle Paul

For Me to Live is Christ!

When the apostle Paul says, “For me to live is Christ!” (Philippians 1:21), we do not find it difficult to understand. Paul had been a faithful servant of Christ from the time that Christ confronted him on the road to Damascus (AD 30) and through Ananias told Paul that he…

by Ralph Allan SmithFebruary 9, 2023
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Song of Songs

Bridal Song

I think there’s a layer to the Song of Songs which has been largely unexamined. The Song is about Christ and his church, Yahweh and Israel, the nature of the marriage covenant, and the marriage of the couple in the Song. But while the Song is “of Solomon” (or to…

by Daniel StanleyFebruary 8, 2023
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Biblical Studies

Paul and the Praetorian Guard

In Philippians 1:12-13, Paul informs his beloved brothers in Philippi that his Roman imprisonment — which one would naturally think hindered his ministry and the preaching of the Gospel — actually resulted in the surprising and wonderful progress of the Gospel. Of course, from our perspective 2000 years later and…

by Ralph Allan SmithFebruary 2, 2023
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Biblical Theology

Abraham’s Seed: Heavens, Earth, and Sea Made New

In a recent post , I explored the threefold order of creation—heavens, earth, and sea—and suggested that in Genesis 1 God stamps heaven’s order, his own threefold nature, on the creation, giving earth a trinitarian shape. So what happens to the three-level architecture of creation after Genesis 1? We don’t…

by Josh JensenFebruary 1, 2023

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American Religion

American Ironies

I don’t buy everything in Niebuhr’s The Irony of American History , especially his insistence that there is no power without guilt because no exercise of power is “transcendent over interest” (Can a gift be given? Same question). Still, the book is as relevant and important now, perhaps more so,…

May 26, 2009
History

Roman Revolution

A central thesis of Raymond van Dam’s The Roman Revolution of Constantine is that Constantine was obsessed with the issue of succession, and that religious concerns were subordinate to the need for a smooth transition of power. That thesis is, I think, overstated, but van Dam’s book has many virtues…

May 26, 2009

Better than Seven Sons

Naomi’s daughter-in-law, Ruth, is better than seven sons to Naomi (4:15). To underscore this, the book calls Ruth “daughter-in-law” seven times (1:6, 7, 8, 22; 2:20, 22; 4:15). She is the sevenfold daughter, the daughter who brings new life and new creation to Naomi, a new life that her sons…

May 25, 2009

Eucharistic meditation

Psalm 75:7-8: But God is the Judge: He puts down one, and exalts another. For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is fully mixed, and He pours it out; surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth drain…

May 24, 2009

Exhortation

Worship is an ascension. It always has been. Man’s first sanctuary, the Garden of Eden, was on a high place; Abraham took Isaac to Mount Moriah to offer him to the Lord; when Israel gathered to that same mountain on feast days, they climbed toward the temple singing Psalms of…

May 24, 2009

Ascension Day Meditation

This is taken from Leo I, Sermons 73-74. I have cut some sentences and paragraphs, smoothed out the translation at some points, and added a few phrases and sentences to clarify Leo’s thought. During the time between the Lord’s Resurrection and Ascension, God had one aim in view: To teach…

May 21, 2009

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