Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Flying scrolls. Red horses. Beasts coming out of the sea. Winged women. The list goes on. Apocalyptic literature in the Bible is like a cross between science fiction and Marvel comics. And the Bible has a fair bit of this sort of thing. Daniel sees visions in Babylon, Zechariah sees…
Trinity House Institute has taken a new name, the Theopolis Institute. This striking new name expresses our unique vision and mission and captures the unified purpose behind all our specific programs and activities. We still have Bible, liturgy, and culture in our tagline. We still offer the same courses on…
Adam Kotsko offers a socio-political variation on the Christus Victor atonement theory in his 2010 study, The Politics of Redemption: The Social Logic of Salvation . He does this by explaining "the devil" in terms of the Hegelian concept of "objective spirit," Geist . As Kotsko puts it, Geist "refers…
Two factors keep Nahtali Meshel from discussing the meaning of sacrifice until late in his The "Grammar" of Sacrifice . The first has to do with the texts he draws from: "P says little about the meaning of its rituals" (174). The other has to do with the grammatical theory…
Chapter 5 of Naphtali Meshel's The "Grammar" of Sacrifice focuses on "praxemics," the physical actions of sacrificial ritual. Praxemes are constituted by six elements: an "atomact," an elementary physical act or gesture; an actor; an object that is acted up; a target for the action and often for the object…
Two chapters of Naphtali Meshel’s The “Grammar” of Sacrifice cover what he calls “jugation” and “hierarchies.” The first involves the addition of other materials to an animal offering. Jugates include wine, cereal, and oil that are added to the animals (zoemes) that are offered in sacrifice. Some jugates are coordinated…
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As NT Wright points out in his commentary on Romans, Paul’s description of Abraham’s faith reverses point-by-point the earlier description of sinful humanity, humanity under wrath. Abraham believes in God the Creator, while the wicked ignore the creator (1:20, 25). Abraham’s body is as good as dead and yet trusts…
Christians have sometimes suggested that homosexual practice is universally condemned. In Homosexuality and Civilization , Louis Crompton, Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Nebraska and a longtime gay activist, shows that homosexuality was common and accepted in various forms in ancient Greece and Rome, as well as in…
Some thoughts inspired by Joel Green’s commentary on Luke 22-23: Luke stuffs his account of Jesus’ trials with understated ironies. The soldiers mock Jesus’ prophetic claims by blindfolding and beating Him; but this is just what Jesus said was going to happen to Him. Jesus tells the Jewish leaders that…
Some thoughts inspired by Joel Green’s commentary on Luke 22-23: Luke stuffs his account of Jesus’ trials with understated ironies. The soldiers mock Jesus’ prophetic claims by blindfolding and beating Him; but this is just what Jesus said was going to happen to Him. Jesus tells the Jewish leaders that…
Dana Gioia has a very sensible and positive review of Garrison Keillor’s Good Poems in the April 2004 issue of Poetry . Gioia admits that he at first reacted sniffily at the title and the editor of this anthology, but he says that over several months of reading the poetry…
Here are some slightly repetitive notes for a short talk I gave on The Passion on Friday, March 26. INTRODUCTION I want to discuss a single scene of The Passion , which will lead into both commendation for its strengths and criticisms of some of its weaknesses. The scene is…
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