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Writing

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

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Counseling

Two Solutions for the Problem of Pain

C. S. Lewis tackled what is perhaps the most difficult and oft-heard objection to the Christian God in his classic, The Problem of Pain. 1 “If God were good,” Lewis restates the problem, “He would wish to make His creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty, He would be…

by Alexander WhitakerNovember 19, 2019
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Luke

Jesus’ Lamentations

There is nothing incongruous about assuming that Jesus lamented over His people on three separate occasions and that on two of those occasions, He expressed Himself in almost identical language. Two lamentations are recorded in the Gospel of Luke and are clearly marked as distinct. They are also expressed in…

by Ralph Allan SmithNovember 14, 2019
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Biblical Theology

Sacramental Representation and the Created Order

In the Anglican Church in North America, the question of women’s ordination to the priesthood continues to be discussed with each diocese left to decide its own practice. A recurring point of debate is how we are to understand the priest’s representative role in the liturgy. Emily McGowin, in a…

by Blake JohnsonNovember 12, 2019
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Theopolis News

Press Release: New Board Members!

The Theopolis Institute recently added two new members to its Board of Directors, Josh Rollins and Sarah Moore. Josh has recently served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development for MeTEOR Education, and was previously Chief Financial Officer at MeTEOR. He brings a wealth of finance experience, and will take…

by TheopolisNovember 12, 2019
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Pastoral Ministry

Seven Theses on Practical Unity

Since moving to Englewood, Colorado, I have been blessed to be involved in the nuts-and-bolts practice of Church unity. The pastors here talk about the One Church in Englewood, and mean it. They love each other, pray fervently for each other, and long for the unity they enjoy to spread…

by Tim NicholsNovember 5, 2019
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Language

How to Use Bad Words

One day, the author Samuel Clemens cut himself shaving. He was an inveterate foul-mouth and on this occasion recited the entirety of his iniquitous vocabulary. When he was finished, his wife, hoping to shock him, repeated every word he said. Clemens responded, "You have the words, dear, but you don't…

by Remy WilkinsOctober 29, 2019

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How Plants Think

The always-fascinating Oliver Sacks takes a break from his human patients to review several recent and old books on earthworms, jelly-fish, and plants in the NYRB . One is Daniel Chamovitz’s recent What A Plant Knows . Sacks writes, “We all distinguish between plants and animals. We understand that plants,…

April 4, 2014

Between Mother and Dragon

John sees two signs in heaven (Revelation 12), a woman and a dragon. Sharply different as they are, John’s language brings out their similarities. 1) Both are called semeion , vv. 1, 3. 2) John uses the passive ophthe to introduce both, vv. 1, 3. 3) Both are signs in…

April 4, 2014

City of Language

In Who’s Afraid of Relativism? , his recent brief for Christian pragmatism as a philosophy of contingency and creaturehood, James KA Smith summarizes a wonderful little analogy from Wittgenstein: “Language [is] a city. While referentialist theories of meaning might recognize that there could be other uses of language, they will…

April 4, 2014

Breeders: A Subclass of Women?

Jennifer Lahl of the Center for Bioethics and Culture will show her latest documentary film, Breeders: A Subclass of Women? , at Beeson Divinity School, Birmingham, on the evening of Saturday, April 5. The event is co-sponsored by Trinity House and Beeson Divinity School. For more information, click here .

April 4, 2014

Latin, Elite and Vulgar

J.N. Adams takes up a classic question about the history of Latin in his Social Variation and the Latin Language : How did the Romance languages emerge from Latin? It’s been thought that the Romance languages came from changes in Latin pronunciation and grammar at the lower levels of Roman…

April 3, 2014

Foreshadowing in 1 Samuel 14

1 Samuel 14 records the second of Saul’s three falls: He sins when he sacrifices impetuously without waiting for Samuel (ch. 13), when he attacks Jonathan for eating during a battle (ch. 14), when he refuses to carry out the ban against the Amalekites (ch. 15). Chapter 14 is also…

April 3, 2014

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