Theopolis Logo

Writing

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

See all
e99a9334
Advent

Stretching Christmas

For many people Christmas comes on December 25 and is over December 26. The tree is taken down along with the lights and the other decorations, and everyone begins setting the house in order for the new year. No more Christmas hymns. No more celebrations (well, until New Year’s Eve).…

by Steve WilkinsDecember 24, 2016
ascension
Advent

Ascension and Incarnation

The Ascension and the Incarnation should not be disconnected in our Christmas thinking or celebrations. As N.T. Wright notes, the ascension is "a central and vital feature without which all sorts of other things start to go demonstrably wrong. . . . where the ascension has been ignored or misunderstood,…

by Roy AtwoodDecember 23, 2016
nativity-rembrandt
Advent

Christmas Light

“In the Word was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness.” Thus John describes the incarnation of the Son. He comes as the living and life-giving light of the world. That’s good news. In the beginning, God spoke and light shone…

by Peter LeithartDecember 23, 2016
nativity-chagall
Advent

The Spirit of Christmas

Christmas is all about Jesus. The angels announce Jesus’ birth, shepherds and wise men come to see Jesus, Herod wants to kill Jesus. We occasionally think of the Father who sent the Son, but we keep returning to the Son made flesh in Bethlehem’s manger. Meanwhile, as always, the Spirit…

by Peter LeithartDecember 22, 2016
nativity
Advent

The Humility of God

Christmas is about many things, but one of the chief things revealed in the gospel of Christmas is the humility of God. We don't often think of humility as an attribute of God. If God is glorious and exalted, we think, He must be haughty and proud and self-centered. We…

by Peter LeithartDecember 21, 2016
screenshot-2025-12-15-at-8-35-45-am
Advent

Advent of Unity

John famously begins his Gospel with a piece of theology: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Matthew starts with a genealogy. John celebrates Advent with a hymn, Matthew with a list. For John, Jesus is the Word of creation…

by Peter LeithartDecember 20, 2016

Showing page 120 of 309

See all
See all

Like a Young Kid

On his way to visit a pleasing woman in Timnah, Samson is attacked by a lion (Judges 14). He defeats the lion, tearing it “like a young goat,” and then heads on to visit the lady. Does tearing a lion “like a young goat” mean tearing a lion “easily”? Is…

October 2, 2014

Jugation and Hierarchy

I summarize and interact with more of Naphtali Meshel’s The “Grammar” of Sacrifice at the Trinity House site , examining his concepts of “jugation” and “hierarchy” in “P.”

October 1, 2014

Epic Tetris

“It’s a very big, epic sci-fi movie,” says Larry Kasanoff of Threshold Entertainment. He’s talking about a movie based on Tetris, the game of falling geometric shapes. The movie is going to be much, much more than geometry. We’re going to learn that “‘Tetris’ is the teeny tip of an…

October 1, 2014

Evangelical Atheism

John Gray’s TNR review of Richard Dawkins’s An Appetite for Wonder is the very definition of withering. It should be read in full. As a public service, a few of the juicier quotations: “No two minds could be less alike than those of the great nineteenth-century scientist [i.e., Darwin] and…

October 1, 2014

Engaging John, Engaging One Another

The Paradosis Center of John Brown University put on an ecumenical conference on the gospel of John last week. I posted a brief report on the event on the Trinity House site .

September 30, 2014

Narrow, Repetitive Road

The TLS reviewer says that Richard Flannagan aspires to poetry, and fails dismally, in his Man Booker nominated The Narrow Road to the Deep North . “The Narrow Road to the Deep North confuses poetry, the higher register, with the trope of repetition - and it is fatal. . .…

September 30, 2014

Showing page 520 of 2212

Browse by Category

In Medias Res

Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.

Donate

Theopolis is nearly 100% donor-supported. Consider joining us on our mission.