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Writing

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

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The Lady and Her Jewels: An Epiphany Meditation

And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery (Revelation 12:1-2). Then Joshua spoke…

by Richard BledsoeJanuary 6, 2015
extreme-unction
Anointing

Fattening Our Suffering

In his post asking Ought we Anoint the Dying? Peter Leithart makes an excellent and important point about our suffering as members of Christ. However, he only parenthetically mentions that the verb in question in James 5 is not chrio but aleipho . By assuming that these words are interchangeable,…

by Robert MaddoxDecember 30, 2014
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James

Death as Frenemy

We spend a lot of time in the church talking about what it means to live like a Christian. But what does it mean to die like a Christian? If we are to follow Christ in life, what does it mean for us to follow him in death as well?…

by Rich LuskDecember 23, 2014
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Literature

Was Shakespeare A Christian?

How would one go about answering the question posed by my title? That depends on what the question means. Obviously, different definitions of the question would require different approaches to an answer. Right off hand, I can think of at least three possible — though not necessarily mutually exclusive —…

by Ralph Allan SmithDecember 23, 2014
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American Culture

Phobophobia

In recent weeks and months, we have seen events that are not the event. The drama around these events is not the events themselves, but the anxiety about the events, and then even the anxiety about the anxiety about the events. That is the real event. The events in Ferguson,…

by Richard BledsoeDecember 22, 2014
anointing-david
Anointing

Ought We Anoint the Dying?

Anointing the sick, including the dying, is one of the traditional seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. The Reformers denied that the rite qualified as a sacrament. Formally, this was because anointing did not have a direct authorization from Jesus; more theologically, it was not one of the marks that…

by Peter LeithartDecember 18, 2014

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God and the First Amendment

"The First Amendment’s religious liberty provisions make no sense except on the supposition that God exists - that such a thing as religious truth exists and that the commands of true religious faith are real and superior to the commands of civil society." This is the thesis of a 2013…

August 27, 2018

Literal, Figurative, Fundamentalism

Adam S. Miller begins his editorial introduction to Fleeing the Garden (vii-ix) by observing the confusions that surround the terms "literal" and "figurative" in biblical interpretation: "the word literal often just functions as shorthand for the claim that the text refers to something real. In such cases, the word is…

August 23, 2018

Culture of Death

In her introduction to Ratzinger's Faith , Tracey Rowland contrasts the emphases of John Paul II and those of Benedict XVI with regard to what each called the "culture of death." Though neither is a dualist, John Paul focused more on the destruction of bodies while Benedict called attention to…

August 22, 2018

Become Like Children

One of the students at the recent Theopolis course on covenant epistemology nailed the theme of the week. It was a week-long re-initiation into childhood, led by an authoritative guide in childlikeness, Esther Meek. Covenant epistemology calls us to be childlike in our unfeigned delight in the world, childlike in…

August 21, 2018

Look at the Birds

Look at the birds. Look at the lilies. Jesus meant what He said: Look, actually look. Look in order to address anxiety about food, clothing, shelter, and other necessities of life. When you look at the birds, you realize that God provides food. When you look at the lilies, you…

August 20, 2018
Epistemology

The Adventure of Knowing

Some highlights from this past week's Theopolis course on "covenant epistemology," taught by Esther Meek. 1) Using the journey of the Magi as a paradigm of knowing, Esther described knowledge as a venture or adventure, a pilgrimage toward a gift. That is a lovely description that nicely captures much of…

August 16, 2018

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