Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
I grew up in the 1950s. This was before the "Sixties" and the democratization, informalization, and general cheapening of the church and her worship. Ministers were Father Donovan, Pastor Eckhart, Reverend MacPherson, Mister (Episcopal) Parker, and Brother Smith. Liturgical speech was high language, sounding kind of like the King James…
Metaphor exerts a surprisingly powerful influence within our thinking. Although it is easily dismissed as little more than a figure of speech, when we attend more closely to the ways in which we use it, metaphor’s importance swiftly becomes more apparent. Although many of our metaphors have become quite invisible…
What is a tree, scientifically speaking? A mere googling gives the following answer: “a woody perennial plant, typically having a single stem or trunk growing to a considerable height and bearing lateral branches at some distance from the ground.” We can increase detail by describing its family, genus, species and…
The majority of Western evangelical Christians rarely, if ever, fast as a form of spiritual discipline. In our culture, fasting is more connected with dieting than worship, the other side of our deeply ambiguous fascination with food. Food is everywhere. We eat more than ever before, at greater speed, and…
A Grammar of Creation An understanding of the visual-musical language of the Bible must begin with Genesis 1. This is fortunate, because when explaining biblical types to academics, as opposed to children, one is repeatedly forced to start from scratch. From birth, a healthy child is attuned to rhythm and…
In an inverse Eden, a land laid waste, one works alone tending the trash. There are none like him in all the earth, inquisitive, playful and most drawn to those mysterious, dancing bipedal creatures who lost earth and left it to go wandering the vast wilderness of space. Humans have…
Showing page 134 of 309
Showing page 2 of 43
Micah 6:5: My people, remember now . . . from Shittim to Gilgal, in order that you might know the righteous acts of Yahweh. We’ve seen this morning that Micah is presenting the covenant lawsuit against the people of Israel and Judah. He is bringing Yahweh’s indictment, his “case” against…
Last Sunday was the Christian feast of Epiphany, which commemorates the visit of the magi to worship Jesus. The word “epiphany” means “manifestation,” and the theme of this season is Jesus’ manifestation to the world. Jesus comes as the seed of Abraham, but He also comes, as Simeon said, as…
According to a National Academy of Sciences survey, twice as many mathematicians believe in God as biologists. And a large proportion of mathematicians are self-conscious Platonists.
In his recent history of neoconservatism, Jacob Heilbrun, a one-time neocon himself, points out that neoconservatism is not only a movement populated by Jews but one whose main agenda and interests are influenced deeply by Judaism. In the NYT book review, Timothy Noah says, in part: “To be neoconservative is…
In Luke 24:49, Jesus says that the disciples should expect the coming of the promise of the Father. This is clearly a reference to the Holy Spirit, but the terminology is interesting. Augustine said that the Spirit is both “Gift” and “Love,” and Luke 24 adds “Promise.” And since it’s…
“Violence” has been inflated dramatically in recent social and political rhetoric. It can refer to everything from a mugging to a classification system that excludes some marginal group. But there is some biblical ground for seeing violence even where there’s not blood. Micah condemns the rich men of Jerusalem for…
Showing page 1583 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
