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

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Ephesians

“Be Holy for I am Holy”

Below is an excerpt from Mark Horne’s manuscript from his forthcoming commentary on Ephesians, specifically on Paul’s reference to Christians as “saints” (Ephesians 1:1). “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.” Paul greets…

by Mark HorneMarch 25, 2025
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Exodus

The Perishable in the Ark of the Covenant

There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of Egypt (2 Chronicles 5:10). When Solomon finally brought the ark of the covenant to the finished temple in…

by Jonathan WhiteMarch 18, 2025
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Exodus

The Stages of a Man’s Life and the Second Table of the Law

In As You Like It , Shakespeare famously describes the seven ages of a man’s life. The division of man’s life into stages is not an invention by Shakespeare, nor merely a common medieval artifice, but an expression of the real journey taken in life. Shakespeare seems to divide up…

by Ryan HandermannMarch 13, 2025
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Christology

The Essence of God’s Image

Is there a chief characteristic which best illumines the image of God in Man? What is it exactly that makes Man as a lens through which to see God? Moses thoughtfully and deliberately escorts the reader to the characteristic showcased above all else: humility. Though much ink has been spilled…

by Ben LoveladyMarch 11, 2025
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Liturgy

Two Ways of Being Liturgical: A Baptist Response to the High Church Exodus

Note: This essay is adapted from a talk delivered at the Howell E. Jackson Committee conference on “Foundations of Baptist Education,” held at Union University, Oct. 4-5, 2024. It’s no secret that evangelicals are converting to High Church traditions, a term I will use to refer to Anglo-Catholicism, Roman Catholicism,…

by Ryan SinniMarch 4, 2025
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Icons

Don’t Convert: Icons and Images in the Early Church

In recent years, there has been a flurry of conversions from Protestant Christianity towards Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, at least in part due to their supposed early church heritage relative to Protestantism. In the words of Rod Dreher, a former Methodist who converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, “Many evangelicals seek…

by John CarpenterFebruary 25, 2025

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History

Lutheran romantics

Through Hamann, Luther became a formative influence to modern thought. Beiser writes, “It was Hamann’s mission to defend the spirit of Luther when the Aufklarung threated to destroy it. Hamann never made any disguise of his great debt to Luther, and he explicitly affirmed his wish to see a restoration…

September 29, 2008
Philosophy

Hamann’s influence, again

Beiser again, commenting on Hamann’s influence in the 19th century: “One devotee of Hamann’s was F. W. J. Schelling, whose Positivephilosophie reflects Hamannian themes. Another avid student of Hamann’s was F. Schlegel, who wrote one of the first appreciative essays on Hamann’s philosophy. Still another admirer was G. W. F.…

September 29, 2008
Philosophy

Hamann’s influence

Frederick Beiser ( The Fate of Reason ) laments the obscurity of Hamann in Anglo-American philosophy. His influence on German intellectual history was notable: “Hamann was the father of the Sturm und Drang , the intellectual movement that grew up in Germany during the 1770s in reaction against the Aufklarung…

September 29, 2008

Sermon notes

INTRODUCTION Jesus and His disciples are “sons” of the great King of the temple (17:25-26), and therefore they are brothers of Jesus and one another. The rest of chapter 18 tells us how brothers treat each other. THE TEXT “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him…

September 29, 2008

Sons and strangers

A few inconclusive suggestions about the strange story at the end of Matthew 17. First, I take the majority view that the tax in question is the temple tax, and that helps to explain the distinction of sons and strangers that Jesus makes. In a temple context, the sons are…

September 28, 2008

Baptismal meditation

Matthew 18:4: Whoever humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Children are blessings from the Lord, but how are they blessings? In many ways: There are daily delights in having little children around the house, and there are deeper joys in watching children…

September 28, 2008

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