Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
This essay is adapted from my articles in Theopolis’s In Medias Res as a series of Holy Week meditations. Like many celebrities such as Kanye or Beyoncé or Adele, Josquin des Prez (d. 1521) was often known only by his first name, in his own time as now. “Josquin” is…
Sight is a major theme in the scriptures. The church has long identified sight’s relationship to the future fulfillment of the eschaton. As Paul says, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1 Cor 13.12). Sight is associated with…
What is the chief end of man? —yes, to glorify God and enjoy him forever. But how ought man–and all creation–so glorify him? I propose a Theopolitan addition to the catechism, question and answer number 1.5, begun in the last question and answered as follows: Earth’s inhabitants were created to…
Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. Genesis 49:21 Frederick Buechner once said, “We move into the extraordinary by way of the ordinary.” In poetry, this happens by way of a compressed code of analogs; often, two or more very ordinary things begin to reveal something that…
The evangelical milieu of America has often lost a vision of the fruit of repentance. We tend to simplify repentance by asking for forgiveness. After all, Jesus tells Peter to forgive 70 times 7. This verse must be paired with Paul’s scoffing at the question: why not sin more so…
I. The hemorrhaging woman. En route to Jairus’ house, Jesus is touched by a woman with a hemorrhage of blood (Matt 9:18–26; Mk 5:21–34; Lk 8:40–48). The story is one that many of us know very well. She has been yoked to her illness for twelve years, all of her…
Showing page 7 of 309
Showing page 32 of 43
TNR (July 3) has several articles on conservative culture. Rick Perlstein suggests that conservatism is a “jerry-rigged” coalition that has little ideological unity. But conservative is unified nonetheless: “you never see the sponsors of purity balls going on CNN to denounce ‘Ann Coulter Gone Wild.’” Conservatives are united not by…
Jesus teaches in parables to fulfill what the prophet spoke: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world” (Matt 13:35). The “prophet” cited is Asaph (Psalm 78:2), and the Psalm cited is a review of Israel’s history from the exodus,…
Illusion and truth are opposites, right? But isn’t it the case that illusion is an integral part of true perception. The sofa across the room is no bigger than my thumbnail, and I can blot out the tree with my forefinger. If these objects appeared to me in their actual…
The Enlightenment held to a belief in human perfectibility, it is often said. The term itself was coined by Rousseau, but Rousseau saw it as a deeply ambiguous faculty, “the source of all misfortunes of man.” Perfectibility is the faculty that draws together and motivates all other faculties so as…
Jesus warns at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that those who hear His words and fail to do them will collapse. The image of the collapsing house, as NT Wright has suggested, likely refers to the temple: Jesus is setting out a program for Israel’s national survival…
James Jordan points to structural links between the death of the innocents at hands of Herod (Matt 2) death of innocent Jesus at hands of Romans (Matt 27). While Jesus escapes the first slaughter by fleeing to Egypt, he enters the “Egypt” of Jerusalem/Judea to suffer the slaughter. There is…
Showing page 1833 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
