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

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evangelists
Matthew

Dating Matthew, (Part 1)

When might the Gospel according to Matthew have been written? Of course, any answer can only be speculation, but that does not mean we are reduced to groundless opinion. In this series of articles I point the way to an approach different from the general consensus among scholars today which…

by Ralph Allan SmithNovember 22, 2016
hebrew-manuscript-3
Hermeneutics

Synopticity, (Part 2)

In my first essay on “synopticity” I offered a rather rough definition of the phenomenon and important, though not exhaustive examples. In this essay, I want to introduce broader aspects of the phenomenon of “synopticity.” The first example that I have in mind is conventional stories, stories of different historical…

by Ralph Allan SmithNovember 17, 2016
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Ascension

Brexit and the Binding of Satan, Part 4

Since the judgment of Babel was followed by the initiation of the circumcision, the impending end of the circumcision in AD70 explains the significance of the first century miracle of foreign tongues. Except for a few Aramaic “teasers” in the book of Daniel, the Word of God was monolingual and…

by Mike BullNovember 15, 2016
four-evangelists
Hermeneutics

Synopticity, (Part 1)

To the best of my knowledge “synopticity” is not a word used in theology or Biblical studies, but it seems an appropriate word to describe the kind of phenomena associated with the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These three Gospels tell essentially the same story with significant — sometimes…

by Ralph Allan SmithNovember 10, 2016
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Humor

Learning to Laugh

Humor is a funny thing. It is altogether familiar yet also mysterious. What makes us laugh? Why do we find things funny? There are academic fields of study dedicated to discovering what makes things humorous. These academicians even have a journal entitled International Journal of Humor Research . No joke.…

by Bill SmithNovember 8, 2016
chaucer
Literature

Flawed Means of Grace: Liturgy in The Pardoner's Tale

Out of all the characters in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales , the Pardoner has been called the “one lost soul.” The pious Parson, who closes out the collection of tales with a sermon on the seven deadly sins and how a sinner can absolve himself of them, connects the…

by Christian LeithartNovember 3, 2016

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Philosophy

Suarez and Descartes

Searching for precedents for Descartes’ notion that God is causa sui Jean-Luc Marion finds that “Suarez anticipates Descartes’ daring formula, de ipso Deo . . . , because, like him, he begins by submitting God to what will become the principle of reason, and, in order to succeed in this,…

September 3, 2007

Walk through the tabernacle

You are salt: Jesus is at the altar, considering the salt that is added to the offerings. The earth is the altar, the nations the sacrifice (Romans 16), and the disciples of Jesus the flavoring on the offering. You are a light on a lamp: Jesus is in the Holy…

September 3, 2007
History

Time and Social Theory

In her critical study of sociology’s understanding of time, Barbara Adam contrasts the multiform experience of time in life with the much thinner understanding of time in theory: “In everyday life . . . time can mean a variety of things. We can have a ‘good time at a party,’…

September 3, 2007

Sermon outline

INTRODUCTION Jesus came to fulfill the law and prophets, not to abolish them. Beginning in 5:21, He shows in some detail what that means. THE TEXT “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the…

September 3, 2007

Eucharistic meditation

2 Corinthians 2:15-16: For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? The…

September 2, 2007

Baptismal meditation

Ezekiel 16: 3-6: Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you…

September 2, 2007

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