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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At The Atlantic , Peter Beinart explains why Obama doesn't think that terrorism is a threat to our way of life: “Unlike Rubio, he considers violent jihadism a small, toxic strain within Islamic civilization, not a civilization itself. And unlike Bush, he doesn’t consider it a serious ideological competitor. In…
Twice toward the end of Revelation, John falls down to worship an angel. Both times, the angel redirects his worship from himself to God. The two scenes look the same, but Austin Farrer notes a progression ( A Rebirth of Images ). In the first instance, John falls to worship,…
The overall aim of Rowan Williams's recent The Edge of Words is to explore what the phenomenon of human language might have to say about the reality of God. Along the way, he has much of interest to say about human language itself. He observes, for instance, that “we cannot…
Melinda Selmys ( Slave of Two Masters ) knows that TV-watching is “the classic example of ‘wasting time,'” but she doesn't think there's any reason why TV time is wasted time: “A person could watch the same show over and over again and still choose to claim something new out…
Writing at fivethirtyeight.com , Benjamin Morris argues that Stephen Curry is the three-point revolution. This isn't just the normal 3-for-the-price-of-two calculation: “Curry isn’t a product of the math; he’s so good that he has his own math. Indeed, the math is so far in Curry’s favor that the Warriors —…
In his stunning exploration of Revelation, A Rebirth of Images , Austin Farrer explains the calendrical arrangement of the book. Revelation is arranged, Farrer argues, in six days, beginning with the Easter Christ and ending with the “Advent, the Rider on the White Horse, the victor of the great battle”…
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