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Writing

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

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City

The City of Cain

Not long ago, I heard these statistics about New York City: New York City is in $100 billion in debt. 20% of all NYC residents are on food stamps, which cost $250 million a month. 5% of NYC population are on disability, costing $252 million a month. Other assistance costs…

by Richard BledsoeJune 25, 2020
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Empire

Twenty-Five Theses on Empire

1. All political power is ambivalent. Vertical violence of “the state” tends to limit horizontal and contested power between people and between tribes. “The State” brings new oppression, but also a measure of new peace and unity. 2. All political formations are ambiguous like this: a strong family conquers weaker…

by John MilbankJune 23, 2020
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Coronavirus

Virtual Gnosticism and the Church – some disturbing thoughts about Covid19

Gnosticism by any other name would smell the same. But does the church have much of a theological sense of smell, these days, when it comes to the seductions of virtuality in our worshipping communities? Social isolation during a global pandemic makes good public health sense, but whether church should…

by Paul TysonJune 16, 2020
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American Culture

The Priorities of Priests and Protests

It is a remarkable thing, you know, this thing called priority. Just a few weeks ago, religious leaders were boldly asserting in their high-dollar online videos that it was too dangerous to return to worship and that we needed to listen to our political and health leaders. "They are the…

by Uri BritoJune 15, 2020
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James

Anger, Riots, Violence, & Justice: How the Epistle of James Came to be Written

Somewhere in the city of Jerusalem on a rooftop just a few years after the ascension of Jesus and the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost. . . ". . . and just when are you guys going to live up to your ‘Sons of Thunder’ reputation? Huh? A lot…

by Jeff MeyersJune 9, 2020
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Proverbs

Lady Wisdom Eve

In my book, Solomon Says: Directives for Young Men ( Amazon , Kindle ) I mention that Solomon portrays wisdom as a woman. But I don’t ask (or answer!) why he did so. Solomon uses the figure of Lady Wisdom without apology or explanation: Wisdom cries aloud in the street,…

by Mark HorneJune 2, 2020

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Philosophy

Heidegger and the gift

Marion works from both Husserl and Heidegger, and we’ll focus on the latter, as he is slightly easier to grasp. (I am summarizing Robyn Horner’s discussion.) Heidegger begins from Husserl, but seeks to go beyond him. Husserl’s phenomenology was an effort, Heidegger says, to “let that which shows itself be…

November 28, 2007

Sermon Notes, First Advent

INTRODUCTION Isaiah is the great prophet of the incarnation, but Isaiah is a bit too large to cover during the four weeks of Advent. Micah, though, prophesied at the same time as Isaiah (Micah 1:1; Isaiah 1:1), and the prophecies overlap (Micah 4:1-3; Isaiah 2:1-4) and Micah includes a major…

November 26, 2007

Eucharistic meditation

Psalm 128:5-6: The LORD bless you out of Zion, and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Yes, may you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel. We saw in the sermon this morning that the man who fears Yahweh can hope for…

November 25, 2007
Theology

Exhortation

As soon as Adam sins, his marriage is disrupted, as he becomes Eve’s accuser instead of her guardian. In the next generation, sibling rivalry escalates to the first murder. The family is a fallen institution. It cannot redeem. It needs to be redeemed. The story continues throughout the Old Testament.…

November 25, 2007
Literature

Meta-Theater

During one scene of King Lear, Edgar, disguised as Mad Tom, leads his father, Gloucester to the cliffs of Dover, where his father intends to throw himself down to his death. Only Edgar doesn’t go to Dover. He tells his father that he has reached Dover, and Gloucester ceremoniously throws…

November 24, 2007
History

Stoic and Christian

For the Stoics, as for most ancient philosophers who reflected on signs, signs were examined as part of a theory of inference. A sign was a symptom, and the medical usage is often overt in examples; or a sign is a premise of an argument, from which something unknown can…

November 24, 2007

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