Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
This essay is adapted from my articles in Theopolis’s In Medias Res as a series of Holy Week meditations. Like many celebrities such as Kanye or Beyoncé or Adele, Josquin des Prez (d. 1521) was often known only by his first name, in his own time as now. “Josquin” is…
Sight is a major theme in the scriptures. The church has long identified sight’s relationship to the future fulfillment of the eschaton. As Paul says, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1 Cor 13.12). Sight is associated with…
What is the chief end of man? —yes, to glorify God and enjoy him forever. But how ought man–and all creation–so glorify him? I propose a Theopolitan addition to the catechism, question and answer number 1.5, begun in the last question and answered as follows: Earth’s inhabitants were created to…
Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. Genesis 49:21 Frederick Buechner once said, “We move into the extraordinary by way of the ordinary.” In poetry, this happens by way of a compressed code of analogs; often, two or more very ordinary things begin to reveal something that…
The evangelical milieu of America has often lost a vision of the fruit of repentance. We tend to simplify repentance by asking for forgiveness. After all, Jesus tells Peter to forgive 70 times 7. This verse must be paired with Paul’s scoffing at the question: why not sin more so…
I. The hemorrhaging woman. En route to Jairus’ house, Jesus is touched by a woman with a hemorrhage of blood (Matt 9:18–26; Mk 5:21–34; Lk 8:40–48). The story is one that many of us know very well. She has been yoked to her illness for twelve years, all of her…
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Trinity is in the middle of a shake-up, and shake-ups always open opportunities for people to step up into new roles. Pastors Sumpter and Appel will be stretched in all kinds of painful, healthy ways that would be impossible if I stuck around. Prune the tree, clear out the dead…
A homily for a late Octave of Easter celebration. Matthew 28:1: Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. Let us pray Heavenly Father, You raised Your Son Jesus on…
Explaining why baptism need not be repeated, John Knox ( Answers to Some Questions concerning Baptism, 1566 ) writes that “Baptism is the sign of our first entrance into the household of God our Father; by which is signified that we are received in league with him, that we are…
In his Prayer and the Priesthood of Christ , Graham Redding summarizes Calvin’s teaching on the temporary faith: “Calvin draws a distinction between the regenerating faith of the elect and the temporary faith of the reprobate. There are some among the reprobate, he says, who respond positively to the word…
Rudigert Safranski ( Martin Heidegger: Between Good and Evil ) makes it clear that Heidegger saw his Nazi affiliation as an application of his philosophical stance. For Heidegger, “Decision as a ‘pure’ act is the primary aspect, that jerk that man gives himself in order to jump out of his…
After he published The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies , Marcel Mauss wanted to continue his study of “total social phenomena” with a study of joking relationships. Marcel Founier ( Marcel Mauss: A Biography ) writes: “These were fascinating phenomena that had certain similarities to…
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