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Writing

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

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American Politics

God Damn Democracy!

This may not be a good title for an essay, especially one written by a Christian minister who is deeply sympathetic with the people of Hong Kong. I suspect that many of our friends there would be overjoyed at the prospect of a significant infusion of “democracy.” They even raise…

by Ralph Allan SmithDecember 17, 2019
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Revelation

Apocalyptic Meme Warfare

Despite its deadly serious purpose, The Revelation of Jesus Christ is the funniest book in the Bible. Jesus’ sheep hear His voice but they often fail to get His jokes. God always delivers His witticisms deadpan because that is the easiest way to separate the sheep from the goats in…

by Mike BullDecember 10, 2019
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Biblical Theology

Symbolism and Worldview

The study of symbolism is seen by some as a curiosity, rather far removed from the central matters of life. According to them, anyone who spends time studying Biblical imagery and symbolism may well be getting into a "dangerous" area. Persons who engage in an "overly symbolic" interpretation of Scripture…

by James B. JordanDecember 3, 2019
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Biblical Studies

James Jordan and Biblical Language

The meaning of my title will not be apparent till the end, but he who endures will find intellectual relief, if not satisfaction. One of my favorite quotes from John Walvoord comes from his commentary on the book of Revelation. 1 With regard to the “stars of heaven” falling to…

by Ralph Allan SmithNovember 28, 2019
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Advent

Entitled Children

Christmas is just around the corner, which means the topic of purchasing gifts for children has been floating around my conversations. Minimalism has been on trend for the last few years, and many families have adopted the mindset of “less is more” when it comes to gifts. In Christian circles,…

by Lindsey TollefsonNovember 26, 2019
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Biblical Studies

God’s Patterns in Creation:

A Speech Given to a Christian School Hello High Schoolers and Middle Schoolers! I’m one of the local pastors in town, and one of my main jobs is to study the Bible. So I have come today to speak to you about some basic points about the Bible. One of…

by Eric GreeneNovember 21, 2019

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History

Essence of history

Rosenzweig ( Judaism Despite Christianity: The 1916 Wartime Correspondence Between Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy and Franz Rosenzweig , 157) offers this profound rejoinder to the professorial habit of trying to modify the traditional epochs of history: “It is necessary . . . to accept the traditional periods, and to avoid wanting to…

January 16, 2014

One Flesh

Rosenzweig ( Judaism Despite Christianity: The 1916 Wartime Correspondence Between Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy and Franz Rosenzweig , 115) says that “Only what belongs to both man and woman belongs to all men, and everything else has only sectional interest.” Rosenstock agrees, and elaborates: “The lawyer is the perfect type of male…

January 16, 2014
History

Maimed Emancipation

In one of his wartime letters to Franz Rosenzweig (the correspondence published as Judaism Despite Christianity: The 1916 Wartime Correspondence Between Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy and Franz Rosenzweig ), Rosenstock challenges the Rosenzweig’s idea that his love for a particular scholar can be a “merely private affair.” Love above all “can’t remain…

January 16, 2014

Newspaper of Record

Rebecca Rosen reports at the Atlantic on a century-long error on the front page of the New York Times. The issue number for the February 6, 1898 edition was 14,499; the next day, the issue number was 15,000. Nobody noticed until 1999. At the beginning of 2000, the newspaper announced…

January 16, 2014
Philosophy

Giving Descartes his Due

In Desire, Dialectic, and Otherness: An Essay on Origins , recently reprinted by Wipf & Stock, William Desmond concedes that “the modern self has been excessively subjectivized” (45). But he thinks that, for all its faults, Cartesianism focused attention on an inescapable philosophical problem: “The Cartesian view has the merit…

January 16, 2014

Bridal land

At the end of Isaiah 61, the prophet (or Zion) rejoices because Yahweh “has clothed me with garments of salvation, and has wrapped me in a robe of righteousness.” The clothing is festal, clothing for a wedding, and Zion is both the garlanded bridegroom and the jeweled bride (v. 10).…

January 16, 2014

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