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Writing

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

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Culture

Play is a Serious Business

“And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets,” Zachariah 8:5. 1. Ultimatum game Ultimatum Game is an economic experiment. Its rules are simple: I will give you $100 as long as you give part of that money to the person next…

by Bogumil JarmulakAugust 27, 2020
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Zechariah

The Nephilim Connection

The Nephilim of Genesis 6 has been a topic of great speculation over the centuries. The word appears in Scripture two times, first in Genesis 6 and then in Numbers 13. There have been three major theories regarding the identity of the Nephilim : The Fallen-Angel Procreation Theory: this view…

by Uri BritoAugust 25, 2020
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Matthew

Coming on the Clouds

Jesus on trial was silent before all His accusers, until the high priest said to Him: “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” (Matthew 26:63) The high priest commanded Jesus to declare clearly whether or not He was the…

by Ralph Allan SmithAugust 20, 2020
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How to Worship

On Covid19, the Nature of Church, and Reopening

Introduction In many ways I have been disheartened—and at times distraught—by how congregations across America have responded to Covid19, not in the first weeks when so much was unknown, but in the months since. I had, like most everyone, originally thought we'd be at home a few weeks, but from…

by Bo GrimesAugust 18, 2020
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Ephesians

The Lost Bride

The dust settled as Yahweh clapped his hands together to knock off any remaining clumps of dirt and soil. He had just finished forming from the dust of the ground the crowning glory of his creation. There, lying lifeless upon the newly created earth, was the first image in Yahweh's…

by Kyle LammottAugust 11, 2020
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Preterism

Judgment, Preterism, and the Psalms

When reading the Psalms Christologically, it is one thing to see the prefigured sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. But what do we do with the passages concerning recompense, judgment, or vengeance? Are we to also read these Christologically, or are these vestigial Old Covenant ways of thinking, fit…

by Matthew PikeAugust 4, 2020

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Eschatological merit

Augustine said that in crowning the merit of human works, he is simply crowning his own gifts: “si ergo Dei dona sunt bona merita tua, non Deus coronat merita tua tanquam merita tua, sed tanquam dona sua.” McGrath points out that this axiom concerning merit is set by Augustine in…

April 26, 2006
Literature

Prime mover

Dante understood Aquinas: The prime mover is not pushy; He/it is not the first domino that knocks down all the others. He is Beautiful and Beauty in Himself, Glorious and Triune Glory, and by His beauty He arouses desire, which moves us toward Him. That is why people in the…

April 25, 2006
Theology

Background to Marion, Being Given

INTRODUCTION Jean-Luc Marion is one of the major figures in contemporary French Philosophy, and particularly a leader in French phenomenology. As introduction to Marion’s work on gift and givenness, we’ll be looking at the key figures and ideas of phenomenology, the “theological turn” in French phenomenology, and other work of…

April 25, 2006

Sacraments and Soteriology

Justification, Protestants confess, is a declaration of God as judge. But is this ever audible? Where? Is the judgment ever publicly promulgated? Is it merely the secret declaration in the heart? And if so, how can we be sure that the declaration we’re hearing is God’s voice of commendation and…

April 25, 2006

Acts and Romans

The canonical ordering of the NT does not carry the authority of the text itself, but it is not irrelevant. (Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, among others, has shown that the canonical order of the gospels links them together into a unified literary unit.) With this in mind, it is not irrelevant that…

April 24, 2006

Sermon outline, Third Sunday of Easter

INTRODUCTION Because of Israel’s faithlessness, and her hardness toward Yahweh’s prophets, He sends Assyria in to remove Israel and resettle the land with Gentiles. The arc of Israel’s history comes to a great, tragic conclusion, with Israel removed from her land. THE TEXT “In the twelfth year of Ahaz king…

April 24, 2006

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