Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In my last essay, we saw how consumer culture has gutted the familial category necessary to understand the church. When a consumer visits a church, he expects another service-provider, such as a hospital or a restaurant. He doesn’t understand the role of men in ministry, and thus, not the role…
First time visitors to our church sometimes express their surprise that children, even the youngest, participate with their parents in the entire worship service. Many congregations created an expectation for the parents (and children) of Sunday School or Child Care being available during the entire worship service or during the…
Quantifying the Love of God “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” ~ John 3:16 This most beloved verse in all the Bible was spoken by the Savior himself to Nicodemus. As…
While The Lord’s Prayer enjoys wide recognition throughout the Church, its richness and depth may be unrealized due to a lesser familiarity with, what I will argue is, its primary inspiration: the Tabernacle. There, Christ’s intent can rightly be discerned. The Prayer’s methodological correction to the Jews and Gentiles wasn’t…
The Consumption of the Covenant Idea of the Church Last time we saw consumerism, having canalized its attitudes in our culture, shapes what the consumer sees when he or she steps into a church. Here, we’ll see how it has eviscerated the covenant and familial ideas necessary to understand the…
The ignoble Jayber Crow can stir your appetite for the noble. It’s the simplicity of a good ol’ Port William boy that builds the charm of the book. In fact, the elitists in Port William receive the harshest blows and severest outcomes, as they should. But before delving into the…
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Harnack didn't much like Anselm's Cur Deus Homo . Toward the end of his summary and critique in History of Dogma, vol. 6 , he pays Anselm a back-handed compliment: “perhaps no one can frame a better, who isolates the death of Christ from His life, and wishes to see…
At Theopolis this week, we spent a long time poring over the strange episode in Exodus 4:24-26. Moses is returning from Midian to Egypt, and stops at a lodging place, where “Yahweh met him and sought to put him to death.” Zipporah saved the day by circumcising Gershom, spreading the…
In his classic study of Psychological Warfare , Paul Linebarger offers historical examples of successful and unsuccessful psychological warfare. Milton's support for the Cromwellian regime calls into the latter category: “Milton fell into the common booby-trap of refuting his opponents item by item, thus leaving them the strong affirmative position,…
Raymund Schwager ( Jesus in the Drama of Salvation ) that human beings are “simultaneously involved in two situations. As responsible for sins, all belong to the great band of those who form an alliance against God's anointed, judge him, drive him out, and reject him. As victims of their…
When Pope Francis met with the Russian Patriarch Kirill met last Friday, it was an ecumenical moment of the highest order, the first meeting in history between a bishop of Rome and a Russian Patriarch. The meeting highlights two of the most important events of the 20 th century –…
Israel's suffering in Egypt was intense. Israel's growth spooked Pharaoh. Multiplying and spreading and growing, Israel looked like a threat to Egypt. To protect the system, Pharaoh took stern action. He subjected Israel to hard labor, then had their sons killed, then instructed his people to throw the sons of…
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