Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Matthew 8-9 records three clusters of miracles, interspersed with snatches of Jesus’ teaching about various aspects of discipleship. Just as the Sermon on the Mount displays the authority of Jesus’ Word in teaching, these chapters display the authority of Jesus’ Word over sickness, uncleanness, the creation, demons, and death. In…
Since the early 1980s, several of the conservative Reformed Churches have debated and wrestled with the issue of paedocommunion (infant communion). The PCA and the OPC assigned study committees to examine the question, both of which produced useful reports both in support of and against the position. Though the debate…
(This issue of Biblical Chronology concludes a discussion of the Biblical and Assyrian chronologies, begun in previous posts. Click on the category link of "Biblical Chronology" above to see previous issues. Did Shalmaneser Know Jehu? Allis writes: "The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser contains, in addition to brief accounts of the…
Movies Movies as an art form have a powerful impact because they take place in a dark room, on a large screen, with no distractions, and because they entail many of the arts: music, acting, choreography, design and color, etc. A movie can be an overwhelming experience for a young…
The Hebrew word translated as "grain offering" or "cereal offering" is minchah . Like the translation of `olah as "burnt offering," the translation of minchah as "grain offering" is somewhat deceiving, since minchah does not refer to grain or cereal. In liturgical contexts outside of Leviticus, in fact, the word…
"He shall then skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces" (Leviticus 1:6). The normal word ( `olah ) that is translated as "burnt offering" and "whole burnt offering" has nothing to do with either burning or wholeness. It is the noun form of a verb meaning "to…
Showing page 291 of 309
Showing page 3 of 43
Adam Kuper reviewed Emmanuelle Loyer's Claude Levi-Strauss in a 2016 issue of the TLS . A few noteworthy tidbits. It's intriguing that the great classifier of kin relations should come from a densely interconnected family: "Lévi-Strauss grew up in a densely intermarried family circle made up exclusively of cultivated Parisian…
Adrian Vermeule has a brilliant review of Ryszard Legutko's Demon in Democracy . He begins with Tocqueville's observation that the French Revolution "developed into a species of religion" but one without ritual. Legutko, and Vermeule following him, dissent: "The Revolution’s descendants not only possess a theology and eschatology, but a…
In an essay on covenant as a political concept , Daniel Elazar briefly traces the development of covenant, and its relation to natural law, from Philo to Spinoza. Reformed theorists like Althusius loom large, what with their recovery and expansion of the biblical conception of "covenant." Elazar writes, "The federal…
How did everything get politicized - every choice of a favorite beer, every style decision, every nook and cranny of everyday life? Bruce Schulman blames it on Rolling Stone magazine. As he writes, "/the magazine embraced the countercultural ideal of authenticity — living life to the fullest, right now, within…
Albanian isn't usually considered an important literary language, but Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare explained in an interview with the Paris Review how the language merges classical and modern forms of literary expression: "Albanian is simply an extraordinary means of expression—rich, malleable, adaptable. As I have said in my latest novel,…
Infants and toddlers can’t dress, feed, or transport themselves. Yet in the paradoxical world of the Bible, their very weakness makes them strong. One Child, the Davidic one with the government on His shoulders, is strong enough to overthrow Satan. As a prep for Advent, sing this once a day,…
Showing page 121 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
