Theopolis Logo

Writing

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

See all
20_van-eyck_bavo-altar_adoration-of-the-lamb-copy-67f4f94b
Culture

An Introduction to the Sacred Music of Josquin

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…

by John AhernJuly 29, 2025
screenshot-2025-07-22-at-11-57-58-am
Numbers

Sight and Memory: Examining the Monuments of Numbers

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…

by Matthew DarbyJuly 22, 2025
tengyart-aaz5-as3io-unsplash
Biblical Theology

Yahweh’s Flame: the Gospel through Symbolism

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…

by Ben LoveladyJuly 16, 2025
screenshot-2025-07-08-at-8-31-22-am
Culture

Morality and the Practice of Poetry

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…

by Garrett SoucyJuly 8, 2025
screenshot-2025-07-03-at-9-26-50-am
Ephesians

The Trinitarian Structure of Obedience

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…

by Matthew CoreyJuly 3, 2025
33255drsdl
Luke

The Hemorrhaging Woman, the Eucharist, and the Sermon

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…

by Mark BriansJuly 1, 2025

Showing page 7 of 309

See all

Showing page 23 of 43

See all

How Jesus Saved the World

The first part of a Lenten meditation on John’s Passion narrative by Pastor Jeff Meyers at the Trinity House site.

February 20, 2013
Politics

Normative events

Some years ago it struck me how much current political opinion and theory depend on appeals to normative events. We can’t do or say X because of the Holocaust, or because of Fascism, or because of the Civil Rights Act. Events close off certain political and moral options. This mode…

February 20, 2013

Natural law and Supernatural ends

In the current issue of First Things , David Bentley Hart expresses his skepticism of “the attempt om recent years by certain self-described Thomists, particularly in America, to import [natural law] tradition into public policy debates.” He has in mind the idea that “compelling moral truths can be deduced from…

February 20, 2013

Lovers of the Poor

Summarizing the work of Peter Brown, James Davison Hunter ( To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World , 55) points to the crucial connection between Christian attitudes toward the poor and the transformation of Roman society: Prior to Christianity, the poor…

February 19, 2013
Music

Ears to Hear

Trinity Reformed Church recently had Ken Myers of Mars Hill Audio out to Moscow for a series of lectures on music. They were spectacular, and are now available online at Canon Wired .

February 19, 2013

Allegorical proof

It’s a truism of Protestant biblical hermeneutics that, whatever else you might be able to do with allegories and typologies, you cannot use them to prove doctrine. “Allegories are fine ornaments, but not of proof,” Luther said in The Table Talk of Martin Luther . Paul never learned this rule.…

February 19, 2013

Showing page 791 of 2212

Browse by Category

In Medias Res

Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.

Donate

Theopolis is nearly 100% donor-supported. Consider joining us on our mission.