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

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Hermeneutics

The Complexity of Biblical Allusion

There is no question about the fact that the book of Deuteronomy is full of literary allusion. But there is a serious problem, even a paradox, of understanding how that allusion works. To begin with, if we assume that Deuteronomy was written by Moses — with some editorial emendations added…

by Ralph Allan SmithJanuary 23, 2018
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Culture

The Artificial Resurrection

Genesis and Genetics in Blade Runner 2049 The power of science fiction, and what’s positive about it, is that you’re able to experience the worst-case scenario without actually having to live it. (Actor Ryan Gosling, who plays Officer “K”) (Warning: The following analysis contains spoilers for both Blade Runner films.)…

by Mike BullJanuary 18, 2018
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Biblical Studies

The Battle of Gog and Magog

The battle of Gog and Magog is found in Ezekiel 38-39. My purpose in this brief essay is to propound an explanation for this passage that I have not encountered in any of my commentaries, but that makes more sense to me than any other. I offer it here in…

by James B. JordanJanuary 16, 2018
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Deep Hope

I. Varlam Shalamov in Kolyma Tales describes his experience of the Gulag, where he spent more than a dozen of years. In a story titled The Life of Engineer Kipreev Shalamov reflects on the theme of hope in the life of a prisoner: “Hope always shackles the convict. Hope is…

by Bogumil JarmulakJanuary 11, 2018
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Biblical Theology

Abram’s 318 Men

Genesis 14:14 says that Abram mustered his trained men, “born in his house,” to rescue Lot, and gives their number as 318. It is clear that the precise number is provided for some reason, but what is it? S. Gevirtz notes that 318 is the sum of all the prime…

by James B. JordanJanuary 9, 2018
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Biblical Studies

The Flying Scroll

And he said to me, "What do you see?" And I answered, "I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits" (Zechariah 5:2). Immediately following his vision of the outpouring of the Spirit upon the restoration community (4:1-14), Zechariah saw a flying scroll. The…

by Peter LeithartJanuary 4, 2018

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History

German Universities

Rosentock-Huessy’s discussion of German universities is closely linked to his treatment of the Reformation. The universities took on prominence during the Reformation because the princes of various German territories had to find some authoritative voice to judge in religious matters. Universities also provided a unifying institution within Germany, and so…

February 8, 2007
History

German Reformation

Rosenstock-Huessy’s discussion of Luther makes sense if we recall what ERH says about the unique origins of a human type and the repetition of a human type. Luther’s biography is not just about his contribution to the Reformation; ERH says that the “German Reformation hinges on the personal biography of…

February 8, 2007
Literature

Longfellow lives

Another sign that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is being noticed again is the publication of Christoph Irmscher’s Longfellow Redux , reviewed in the January 5 TLS. Several things about Longfellow are striking: First, what Irmscher calls his “relentless availability” to readers, not only in the “undemanding nature of his published work”…

February 6, 2007
Literature

King’s Theology

Stephen King, that is. Ross Douthat has an interesting article on King in the current issue of First Things . He places King’s novels in the context of modern fiction, which has ignored supernatural events and beings: “King has effectively expanded the definition of realism to include a set of…

February 6, 2007
Literature

King’s Theology

Stephen King, that is. Ross Douthat has an interesting article on King in the current issue of First Things . He places King’s novels in the context of modern fiction, which has ignored supernatural events and beings: “King has effectively expanded the definition of realism to include a set of…

February 6, 2007

Turning the cheek

In his book Reading Matthew , David Garland discusses the significance of “turning the other cheek”: “W. Wink argues that the issue for Jesus is not simply resistance or surrender but what kind of resistance. He claims that turning the other cheek is a third way, which he labels ‘nonviolent…

February 6, 2007

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