Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Misunderstanding “Galatianism” has caused several problems in the Reformed church. Because circumcision is at issue in the Galatian epistle, some have fallen into thinking that ritual per se, rather than anything uniquely Mosaic or Jewish, is the object of Paul’s critique. Likewise, his polemic against “works of the law” is…
Many texts in the NT become more perspicuous if we keep in mind the possibility — and indeed ubiquity — of Gentile God-fearers in the Old Covenant. After the special covenant with Israel is set up, Gentiles are not altogether excluded from the hope of salvation. Israel’s special status in…
I was once trying to get a sermon out of Ephesians 1.12-14 and it seemed obvious that I should look for two parallel statements both ending with the phrase, “to the praise of his glory.” Paul here begins talking about two groups of people (“you” and “we”), and he later…
WHY A DENOMINATION WITH SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN ROOTS SHOULD CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE “NEW PERSPECTIVE ON PAUL” In my denomination, the PCA, we are continually haunted by the sins of our racist Southern past. It has become an annual rite at General Assembly for the issue to be addressed one way or…
Recent debates over whether or not, “justification is central” to Paul’s theology have reminded me of a sermon I once heard by a Presbyterian seminary student. This African American student challenged his audience on the sin of racism and the ways it might manifest itself among us. Like any good…
In Charles Hodge’s 1853 article, “Idea of the Church,” his stated aim is to analyze the idea of the Church proposed in the Apostles’ Creed, in which, “the Church is declared to be “the Communion of the Saints.” He writes: The conception of the Church as the communion of saints…
Showing page 231 of 309
Showing page 2 of 43
Coleridge, on the other hand, stood up for Bertram: “I cannot agree with the solemn abuse which the critics have poured out upon Bertram in All’s Well that ends Well . He was a young nobleman in feudal times, just bursting into manhood, with all the feelings of pride of…
Samuel Johnson said of Bertram in Shakespeare’s All’s Well that Ends Well : “I cannot reconcile my heart to Bertram, a man noble without generosity, and young without truth, who marries Helena as a coward and leaves her as a profligate; when she is dead by his unkindness, sneaks home…
Belated help for a friend: Pastor Ralph Smith of the Mitaka Evangelical Church in Tokyo has produced an course entitled “Shakespeare the Christian.” The lectures cover Shakespeare’s debts to Christianity and his use of the Bible, and then analyze 10 of the plays in detail. Ralph has done his homework,…
Augustine on Psalm 149: “Chorus Christi jam totus mundus est.” Christ’s choir is now the whole world.
Behind Varro’s classification of Roman religion into mythical, natural, and civic, Augustine discerns an interest, and a political one. Varro speaks harshly about the mythic or fabulous religions, for violating the dignity of immortal gods. Yet, the classification system serves to protect civic religion from similar condemnation. On Augustine’s reading,…
Augustine quotes Cicero saying, “quae harmonia a musicis dicitur in cantu, eam esse in civitate concordiam.” That is, somewhat loosely, “what musicians call harmony in singing is concord in the city.”
Showing page 1572 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
