Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The “second Reformation” introduced Reformed liturgy and teaching into Lutheran Germany. This was seen by some as a continuation of the Reformation and a purgation of Catholic remnants. The effort to carry on “further reformation” led to disputes with Lutherans. As Bodo Nischan has put it, the hottest debate in…
In J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century , Tom Shippey observes that Bilbo is a member of the middle class, a bourgeois. Bilbo does not have any servants, but his hole is “the home of a member of the Victorian upper-middle class of Tolkien’s nineteenth-century youth, full of…
Idolatry has deprived Israel of her senses. This was one of the early messages to Isaiah (Isaiah 6). Yahweh sent him out to a people who had been deprived of their senses because of their commitment to idols. They become like the idols they serve. They still have eyes, but…
In the current climate of Trinitarian discussion concerning personhood, it's good to reach back to David Bentley Hart's treatment of the subject in his wonderful Beauty of the Infinite . Hart addresses the dangers of misreading Rahner’s rule, namely, the danger of dissolving the ontological Trinity into the economic. In…
Chris Kou is the oldest son of Chinese immigrants. Chris and his brothers run a branding and marketing business, Imagineering, in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. In his spare time, he takes online courses from Reformed Theological Seminary, and aspires to be a pastor. Chris is also one of our…
The following was delivered as the Solemn Charge and Exhortation to Theopolis students beginning the Easter term course on Architecture and Liturgical Space . As we will be reminded repeatedly throughout the week, the Bible has a lot to say about building and buildings. Long stretches of Exodus, Kings, Chronicles,…
Showing page 115 of 309
Showing page 3 of 43
Below are some notes for a talk I’m giving at the University of Idaho campus tomorrow evening (September 17). Apologies for the formatting. There’s some material here that is relevant only to the local situation, but the general thrust would be relevant to any Christians in a university town or…
A Great Prophet, Luke 7:1-50 INTRODUCTION The previous section of Luke’s gospel (5:1-6:11) began with a call to disciples and ended with the Pharisees seeking ways to destroy Jesus. This section (6:12-7:50) begins with the appointment of apostles and ends with all the people in the Pharisee’s house questioning Jesus’…
I have long considered the debate of infra and supralapsarianism a classic example of the excesses of Reformed orthodoxy and scholasticism. I still like Bavinck’s even-handed treatment of the issues in his Doctrine of God . But I have to confess I’ve been thinking lately more as a supralapsarian than…
Here’s a fun thought experiment from David Wootton’s review of J.C.D. Clark’s book, Our Shadowed Present . Clark puts forward this theory in earnest. In 1688, James II fled England to escape the advancing army of William of Orange; had he stood his ground, he would never, Clark believes, have…
I’m wondering about the sexual imagery in the incident with the “sinful woman” in Luke 7:36-50. Her attention is devoted completely to Jesus’ “feet,” which is often euphemistic for sexual organs. When the text says that she kissed Jesus’ feet, it means she kissed his feet, but the sexual imagery…
Here are some gleanings from a Sunday evening of periodical catching-up: 1) Christopher Hitchens offers a blistering assessment of JFK in his TLS review of Robert Dallek’s biography, An Unfinished Life . Hitchens focuses especially on JFK’s medical history, summarizing this way: anyone scanning this or several other similar accounts…
Showing page 2198 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
