Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Can it be that it has been two whole years since I contributed a Theopolis Post! I had been pursuing the topic of integration: “Seeking Integration in a Fragmented World.” I had defined “integration,” simply, as creative putting together. I had posed that seeking it calls for a fundamentally integrative…
What is known as the miracle of the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” occurs in Mark’s Gospel in chapter 6. As with other gospel writers, Mark has a few different points to make as he moves through this story (included in all four gospel accounts) and its surrounding material. Three…
To begin with the source of this narrative: Since no human being was present to observe these events, we must assume that this narrative was revealed directly by God to a human author. There are three ways this might have happened. First, we might read, "God said to Abraham (or…
The serious Bible student cannot help but be struck by the deviousness of Jacob in Genesis 27. If one already expected some underhanded dealings from this twin-born-second whose name means “supplanter” and whose bargaining with his brother for the birthright in Genesis 25 seemed incredibly weighted in his own favor,…
From Barna stats to mainstream headlines, it seems as though the discordant nature of this last year has taken such a toll on churches in the United States that, for many, the injuries have been fatal. It has become a regular occurrence to hear about a congregation that continues to…
In The Bad News Bears (1976), a city councilman hires a washed-up minor league baseball player with a drinking problem to coach a little league team of leftover misfits. Underdog sports movies are usually full of sentimentalism and dramatic victories, but this film is a commentary on the failing dream…
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It’s common to compare baptism to marriage. But it’s not often recognized that the image is a biblical one. In expounding on the marriage analogy at the beginning of Romans 7, N.T. Wright ( Paul and the Faithfulness of God , 892-3) notes the link back to the baptism exhortation…
The TLS review of Vladimir Nabokov’s letters to his wife during her stay in an asylum ( Letters to Vera ) has some stunning passages. Nabokov can’t keep himself from writing poetry, even in ephemeral letters (or, was he writing in anticipation of future publication?). He describes a “charming borzoi”…
Starting today, November 4, 2014, Trinity House Institute of Birmingham, Alabama, takes a new name, the Theopolis Institute . The Theopolis Institute trains pastors and Christian leaders through intensive courses in biblical theology and liturgics, encourages unity in the church with its ecumenical Nevin Lecture series, and advances theological scholarship…
John sees demonic scorpions released from the abyss (Revelation 9). The description is intricately structured. Verse 5 gives an initial description of the scorpions: 1) Torment for five months 2) Torment of scorpions 3) Sting Verse 10 recapitulates this description in nearly exact reverse order: 1) Tails like scorpions 2)…
An Alex Ross New Yorker review of several recent books on Beethoven stresses the mark he left not only “on all subsequent composers” but on “entire institutions. The professional orchestra arose, in large measure, as a vehicle for the incessant performance of Beethoven’s symphonies. The art of conducting emerged in…
Wonder Woman is the subject of a lot of solemn discussion recently, pushed into highbrow prominence by Jill Lepore’s Secret History of Wonder Woman . According to Katha Pollitt’s NYTBR review, Lepore’s book highlights the setting for the creators of the comic, William Moulton Marston, his wife Elizabeth Holloway, and…
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