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Writing

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

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Leviticus

Cathedral Offerings

Interwoven within Leviticus’ opening offerings is a redemptive storyline meant to be rehearsed. Each offering makes a particular contribution to the retelling of the Exodus deliverance. Like learning a dance, Israel’s opening rituals recount their steps from Egypt to Sinai in a fashion meant to perpetually imprint its experience on…

by Ben LoveladyMay 15, 2025
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Mark

Mark 7 in Color

In Capernaum, the leaders of Israel questioned Jesus in their hearts. Beside the sea, they questioned his disciples about their rabbi’s practices. They challenged Jesus in the grain fields, sought to trap him in the synagogue, tried to seize him, thinking he was mad, and accused him of being possessed.…

by George EdemaMay 13, 2025
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Psalm-singing

Rascals in a Cave

An essay on ministry taken from recent notes for a ‘solemn charge’ I gave our pastoral team (together with their spouses) at All Saints Honolulu, a church-plant that enters its fifth year. I. After receiving the sword of Goliath from Ahimelech at Nob, and after fleeing first to and then…

by Mark BriansMay 6, 2025
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Biblical Theology

A Theology of Tombs: Burial and the Promises of God

When thinking about the book of Genesis, we often think of beginnings, the beginning of the world, humanity, the elect people of God. The word “genesis” itself means beginning. Genesis is also known as the book of promises. Genesis contains three of the major Old Testament covenants: Adamic, Noahic and…

by Matthew DarbyApril 30, 2025
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Luke

Mountain, Tomb, Table: Moses and Elijah as the First Witnesses at the Empty Tomb

A Theological and Typological Commentary on Luke 24:4 In Luke 24:4, we are told that as the women arrived at the tomb on Easter morning, they encountered “two men in dazzling apparel” standing beside them. This description, on its own, may not immediately provoke questions. The traditional interpretation identifies these…

by Bruce GrimmetApril 29, 2025
Acts

Easter Meditation (Part 2)

For Part 1, click HERE . The four Gospel accounts give us their strange and wonderful historical accounts of the resurrection of Jesus. The rest of the New Testament, either explicitly or by suggestion, refers to the resurrection in every book except 3 John. Unlike the Gospel accounts, however, most…

by Ralph Allan SmithApril 22, 2025

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Shakespeare on Sacraments

In their essay on the Eucharist in Cultural Reformations , David Aers and Sarah Beckwith notes that “one of the central images in the exhortations to Holy Communion in the Book of Common Prayer and also in the ‘Homily of the Worthy Reception’ is the image of the heavenly banquet…

May 13, 2016

Reformation Crucifixion

In the second volume of his study of the cross in Western art ( The Triumph of the Cross ), Richard Viladesau notes that “the period immediately preceding the Reformation was one in which Christ's passion was treated with graphic emphasis on the violence of the events and on the…

May 13, 2016

Worthy Reception

In a contribution to Cultural Reformations , David Aers and Sarah Beckwith explain that “One of the chief reasons why Cranmer and other reformers thought the rejection of transubstantiation was so essential was that it negated the act of repentance and reception. If the body of Christ was e x…

May 12, 2016

Augustinian Eucharist

David Aers and Sarah Beckwith argue that Augustine's interpretation of John 6 cannot be understood in a Zwinglian or Wycliffite sense (essay in Cultural Reformations , 153). Augustine does say “Believe and you have eaten,” but Augustine's framework for saying this is corporate and ecclesial. As evidence, they summarize Augustine's…

May 12, 2016

Disenchantment and the Sacrifice of Intellect

Theology often lays claim to scientific status, Weber observes, but in doing so does something that no genuine science does: It operates with substantive presuppositions, especially the assumption that the cosmos is meaningful. In “Science as a Vocation,” he writes, “All theology represents an intellectual rationalization of the possession of…

May 12, 2016

From the Mountain

John is carried by the Spirit to a “great and high mountain” (Revelation 21:9-10), where he sees new Jerusalem descend from heaven. It's the last mountain in Bible, in line with Eden, Sinai, Zion, Moriah, Tabor, Olives. The link with Sinai is especially important, but not because this is a…

May 11, 2016

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