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Theopolis News

2015 Biblical Horizons Conference

This year’s Biblical Horizons conference was another great success and we would like to thank all those who were involved by helping out with the catering or opening up their homes to attendees and speakers. The talks, open-ended as they were, offered a fresh perspective and food for thought on…

by Abi KayJuly 30, 2015
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Children

Training Tools

I find myself often rehearsing conversations with my children. When the house is quiet in the late evening, and I'm standing in front of a pile of soapy dishes, I think about what I am going to say to them in certain situations. When I am driving in the car,…

by Lindsey TollefsonJuly 30, 2015
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Biblical Studies

Cosmic Language, (Part 1)

In Matthew 24:29 , Jesus employs “cosmic language,” signs in the sun, moon and stars, to predict the imminent end of the Old Covenant. His first-century audience would have recognized His allusion to the prophecy against Babylon in Isaiah 13 and understood His discourse as a condemnation of Jerusalem as…

by Mike BullJuly 28, 2015
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Revelation

Triune God of Israel

The Enthroned One speaks to John (Revelation 21:6): “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.” It's a little theology proper. For starters, there's the Greek version of…

by Peter LeithartJuly 23, 2015
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Homosexuality

Stealing a Page from Our Playbook

In reading about how we got into this mess, I came across a very interesting couple of paragraphs that I think the church could learn from if we are going to counter the Obergefell ruling. Prior to 2009, same sex “marriage” had gone to the ballot box thirty-one times in…

by Rich LuskJuly 21, 2015
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Literature

From Garden to Gate of Hell

In my previous essay on Macbeth , I pointed out that Shakespeare rewrote Scottish history to construct a play which points to Adam’s Fall — a man and a woman tempted by devils to steal the throne and become like gods. It is hard to imagine anyone in Shakespeare’s day…

by Ralph Allan SmithJuly 16, 2015

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2 Corinthians 5

When Paul brings Isaiah?s vision into 2 Corinthians 5, he speaks of the mortal being swallowed up by life. ?Life?Ehas already taken on a specific coloration in the course of 2 Corinthians 4. Having spoken of the glory of Christ that has shone in his heart, Paul concedes that he…

May 10, 2005

Submission

Another student, Peter Rae, came up with a chiastic outline of 1 Peter: A. Greeting, 1:1-2 B. Rejoicing in trial, 1:3-25 C. Abstain from flesh, 2:1-12 D. Submit to those in authority, 2:13-3:17 C’. Christ the example, 3:18-4:11 B’. Rejoicing in trial, 4:11-5:11 A’. Farewell, 5:12-14 The intriguing this about…

May 10, 2005

Grapes in Revelation 14

A student, Amy Mertens, points out that the vine in Revelation 14 is bearing fruit, and thus is an unlikely symbol of the wicked or of apostate Israel. Jesus came looking for fruit on Israel’s fig tree and found none; why would we expect it to be found on the…

May 10, 2005

Labor pains

As Beale points out, in Rev 12 John uses a technique of temporal telescoping. Jesus’ entire career is summarized as incarnation and exaltation. It is reasonable, then, to suggest, as Beale does, that the woman’s labor pains and the sweeping of stars from heaven are describing events of the intertestamental…

May 8, 2005

It was good

“Good” is God’s original evaluation of creation (Gen 1), and it will be the last (Rom 8:28). “Good” is the first and the last word. Goodness is the alpha and omega of creation.

May 8, 2005

Deceiving the nations

Revelation 20:1-3 claims that Satan is cast into the abyss, which is “shut” and “sealed” for 1000 years, and verses 7-10 add that at the end of the 1000 years, Satan will be released to gather the nations against the beloved city of God until they are devoured. What kind…

May 7, 2005

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