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Writing

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

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Marriage

Eating the Meat, or Inviting Colonization?

One common trope which is regularly invoked in current debates about the defensibility versus the danger of Christian engagement with critical theories (or, species of Critical Theory) is the idea of “ eating the meat but spitting out the bones .” Usually not far behind is a nod to the…

by James WoodMarch 2, 2021
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Proverbs

Proverbial Eschatology

I am writing about the book of Proverbs in the Bible and “Eschatology.” I don’t refer only to the end of time, or “last things” that will happen in history before it ends as we know it. I am referring to all times of God’s judgment wherein He ends an…

by Mark HorneFebruary 25, 2021
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Augustine

Primacy of Worship for Political Unity

“Unity” is the word of the day. In his inaugural address, Joe Biden invoked St. Augustine to inspire Americans to come together around certain shared values. As others have recently argued, Biden misreads Augustine in important ways. My argument here is that if we seek political unity and civic health…

by James WoodFebruary 23, 2021
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Matthew

Jesus, the Temple Tax and Four-Fold Atonement

This is part two of a series which began here ( The Half Shekel Temple Tax ) in which I answer back, hoping not to rebut but to glorify, some observations Peter Leithart made in a thought-provoking piece about the Temple Tax as atonement ( Atonement Money ). Adding economic…

by Jerry BowyerFebruary 16, 2021
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American Culture

Wokeness as Post-Protestant Neopaganism

It is now commonplace to characterize Wokeness (or “ Wokeism ”) as a religion , or at least religion-like . What I would like to explore is an elaboration on this emergent consensus, supplementing it with some theological analysis. Wokeness, I propose, is a form of post-Protestant neopaganism. It resembles…

by James WoodFebruary 9, 2021
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Movies

Alien 3: Through New Eyes

Science Fiction movies often retell old stories and myths with greater impact for modern people. A being from another world or a technologically advanced human can embody an ancient god or demon and viewers are suddenly unwittingly enthralled by Ur tales that emerged from hundreds of years of human experience.…

by Jacob GuckerFebruary 2, 2021

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Widowed Israel

After David sins with Bathsheba, the prophet Nathan comes to him with a “case” involving a rich man preying on his poor neighbor. It’s David’s own life, but he doesn’t recognize it, and his words of condemnation get turned against him: “You are the man” (2 Samuel 12). When Absalom…

October 7, 2014

Prohibited Speech

Wyatt Mason’s wide-ranging NYT interview with Marilynne Robinson is full of interest for Robinson’s fans. In one of the most incisive portions of the interview, Robinson answers Mason’s question, “What do you think people should be talking about more?” Her consciousness streams in reply: “‘One of the things that bothers…

October 7, 2014

Back to the Feudal

At Bloomberg , Glen Carey observes that “The Middle East may be sliding toward a warlord era, with nation-states increasingly struggling to control all their territory and millions living under the rule of emergent local chiefs and movements.” He quotes Chatham House fellow Nadim Shehadi’s claim that “It is almost…

October 6, 2014

Poetic Beasts

Kathleen Rooney says that poets write animal poetry for two reasons: “one is because animals provide a metaphorical window into the human world from a surprising vantage. Another is because of their very inhumanness and potential sublimity. A successful animal poem makes use of both, weighing those two impulses against…

October 6, 2014
Atonement

Necessity of Atonement

Questions about the “necessity” of atonement are usually framed in terms of the character of God and the nature of sinful humanity. Given these two factors, could God have followed any other path than the cross? Augustine and Aquinas said Yes, Anselm said No. But God and sinful humanity aren’t…

October 6, 2014
Atonement

Disruptive Gospel

Some excerpts from Ivor Davidson’s fine introduction to God of Salvation . Davidson stresses the intrusive character of the gospel’s God. The story is “profoundly startling, disruptive of natural hypotheses about the conceivable relationship of divinity and finitude, shattering to instinctive assumptions that creaturely life must be immune from personal…

October 6, 2014

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