Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In a February blog post for the Theopolis Institute, Benoît Engel offers a thought-provoking challenge to the widely accepted five-discourse structure of Matthew’s Gospel, proposing a sixth discourse in Matthew 21:28–22:14 to reframe the Gospel’s chiastic center. As someone deeply invested in Matthew’s literary design—explored in my book Reading Matthew,…
Avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and useless. Titus 3:9 Out of a deep love and care for the church, Paul tells Titus and those in the church to avoid four specific things: foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law.…
Theopolis publishes many polemics, especially on the Sacraments. This piece does not necessarily reflect the views of Theopolis, her board, or her editors. -JW Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days.He shall cleanse himself with the water on the third day and on the…
There is in the United States and the Western World some sort of religious revival occurring. Gen Z men—males born between ca 1997 and 2012—are flooding back in to churches. USA Today noted that Gen Z men—and to a lesser degree women—attending churches more than their millennial predecessors and they…
The primary task of many Biblical scholars (as they see it) is to explain how and why the Biblical text acquired its final form—i.e., what source material it used, how that material was expanded/redacted, who expanded/redacted it, why they did so, what the weather was like at the time, etc.…
Galatians 5:5-15 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from…
Showing page 8 of 309
Showing page 30 of 43
O’Donovan begins Desire of Nations with a discussion of post-Enlightenment criticism of authority, the unmasking of the self-interest of power that is at the heart of modern and post-modern thought. This unmasking, he says, originates in Christianity, but detached from theology and the church it has degenerated “into little more…
I’m no poet, but sometimes I feel poetic. What’s that feel like? It feels like, “I wish I were a poet so I translate that to language.” But there are a couple of other things going on too. One is a desire for explanation. When the spring breeze comes through…
An article of mine about the cross and what Paul calls the “powers” is posted on the First Things web site this morning: www.firstthings.com
Luther presents several arguments against the Roman Catholic claim that marriage is a sacrament. First, he claims that it doesn’t fit the definition of a sacrament, which includes a divine promise and a sign: “We said that there is in every sacrament a word of divine promise, to be believed…
Marriage was not considered a sacrament in the strict sense by the earliest church fathers or in medieval era. This is partly because there was no “sacrament” in the strict sense; the word was used loosely for “sacred signs.” Augustine described marriage as a “sacrament,” but he didn’t mean by…
INTRODUCTION Jesus begins His teaching ministry offering eightfold beatitude to Israel (Matthew 5:1-12); His teaching ministry ends with an eightfold woe against Jerusalem and a prophecy about the destruction of the temple (Matthew 23-25). Jesus’ life with Israel recapitulates Israel ’s history, which begins in exodus and ends with exile.…
Showing page 1391 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
