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Writing

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

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Baptism

For the Children’s Sake | An Alternative Angle on the Paedocommunion Debate

The debate over paedocommunion does not seem to have made much headway on either side in recent years. Certainly both sides have made a solid effort to argue for their position. But no resolution seems to be forthcoming in the near future. As a convinced paedocommunionist, I find the church’s…

by Rich LuskNovember 16, 2002
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Covenant

Covenant & Election FAQs

How do covenant and election relate to one another? There are many issues of semantics that enter into this discussion and many issues of real substance, so we need to be careful. If we oversimplify, we can say that election relates to God’s eternal plan to save a people for…

by Rich LuskAugust 20, 2002
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Theologia

Vine, Branches, & Fruit

Shortly after the Last Supper and before his final arrest, Jesus said these words to his remaining eleven faithful disciples: I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit…

by Mark HorneJune 7, 2002
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Deuteronomy

The Gospel of Deuteronomy

Was Caleb saved by faith or works? Caleb is just one of many thousands of Hebrews who entered the Promised Land after spending years in the wilderness being led by Moses. God had delivered the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and gave them a law at Mount Sinai based on…

by Mark HorneJune 7, 2002
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Romans

Romans and the Role of Israel in the Atonement

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5.7) So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of…

by Mark HorneJune 6, 2002
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Ephesians

Paul's use of the Decalogue in Ephesians 6:1-3

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth” (Ephesians 6.1-3). Honor your father and your mother, that your…

by Mark HorneJune 6, 2002

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Cuttings from a Pentecost Homily

The Spirit is the Spirit of love. He is the love-gift that binds the Father and Son, and is the love of God poured into our hearts. By one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, male or female. Each of us…

May 9, 2008
American Religion

American priestcraft

Was the American Revolution inspired by the Enlightenment? Or was it an evangelical Presbyterian rebellion? One way to get at that would be to examine the rhetoric concerning “priestcraft” in the American revolution. More than forty years ago, Carl Bridenbaugh pointed to the importance of debates about Anglicanism in the…

May 7, 2008
History

Early Bobos

Already in 1976, Daniel Bell noticed the cultural contradiction similar to what David Brooks has labeled the “Bobo” phenomenon: Americans aspire to be a “Puritan by day and a playboy by night.” I suppose the main difference between Bell’s cultural contradiction is that the Bobo wants to be a playboy…

May 5, 2008

Jesus on the sea

OK, let me try this again. Land is Israel, sea is Gentiles. A boat is a bit of land floating on the sea, and a boat with Jesus in it is a perfect picture of the little flock of disciples that constitutes Jesus’ first church. It’s a bit of Israel…

May 4, 2008

Eucharistic meditation, Sunday After Ascension

Matthew 13:11: to you [it is given] to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. In the early church, one of the most common terms for the sacraments was “mystery.” One (Theodore of Mopsuestia) wrote “Every mystery is a manifestation by signs and symbols of invisible and ineffable realities.”…

May 4, 2008

Mysteries of the Kingdom

“To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,” Jesus tells His disciples (Matthew 13:11). What mysteries? A clue from the OT: The only place where the word “mystery” is used in the canonical books of the LXX is Daniel 2, where it is…

May 3, 2008

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