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Writing

Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.

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Romans

Notes on Scary Stuff in Romans 9

What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on…

by Mark HorneFebruary 5, 2015
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American Politics

Covenants of Exclusion

A hundred years ago, William Warley signed a contract to buy a house in Louisville, Kentucky from Charles Buchanan, a white man. Before closing the sale, Warley, who was black, learned that the lot was subject to a city ordinance barring blacks from occupying the premises if most of the…

by Brendan O'DonnellFebruary 3, 2015
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Literature

The Bard and the Book

I concluded the first essay on this topic by saying that I would introduce three books about Shakespeare and the Bible, but I decided to introduce four instead. The three books become four are: Naseeb Shaheen, Biblical References in Shakespeare’s Plays (London: Associated University Presses, 1999) ; Hannibal Hamlin, The…

by Ralph Allan SmithJanuary 29, 2015
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Augustine

Augustine on Pagan Virtue

My children attend a classical Christian school, situated in the independent “free church” evangelical tradition. Over the past few years they have been growing in their acquaintance with the world of Homer, Plato, Virgil, and Livy. They enjoy it, and I envy it. The school is a great school. My…

by Gerald HiestandJanuary 27, 2015
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Atonement

The Prodigal and the Cross

The Prodigal Son parable (Luke 15) has been a favorite of liberal theologians for a couple of centuries. It seems to be a parable designed for liberal sensibilities: An indulgent, accepting Father; forgiveness extended without a cross; a surly older brother who might represent the "conservative" face of religion who…

by Peter LeithartJanuary 22, 2015
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Ascension

Underground Man, Ascended Man

“I want now to tell you, gentlemen, whether you care to hear it or not, why I could not even become an insect. I tell you solemnly, that I have many times tried to become an insect. But I was not equal even to that. I swear, gentlemen, that to…

by Richard BledsoeJanuary 20, 2015

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Touch of God

An extract from a remarkable sermon given by Rev. Dr. Rufus Okikiola Ositelu, Primate of the Church of the Lord (Aladura) at the 1999 Tabieorar festival in Nigeria: Some of you may be asking the following questions: What can the touch of God do in your lives? How can you…

May 28, 2015

Seven

Jeff Cook's Seven matches Jesus' beatitudes with the seven deadly sins. The beatitudes, he says, “are a picture of the voids created by sin being filled in with the life of heaven.” They provide “eight pictures of resurrection” (26). So, being poor in Spirit is set against pride, envy against…

May 27, 2015

Deceptive God?

Like many young earth creationists, Kurt Wise ( Faith, Form, and Time ) argues that the world is created with the appearance of age. He creates stars whose light already reaches the earth, even though they are only an hour old; trees, not merely seeds, with tree rings. Isn't this…

May 27, 2015
Creation

Why Is There Something?

Why is there something rather than nothing? is usually posed as a philosophical question, the ontological question. Kurt Wise ( Faith, Form, and Time ) poses it as a scientific question. According to current models of the history of the cosmos, “organisms have been in existence hundreds of thousands of…

May 27, 2015

Arousal Addiction

Philip Zimbardo ( Man (Dis)connected ) claims that young American men have become habituated to “regularly experience stimulus” by excessive exposure to porn and video games. He calls is “arousal addiction,” and explains that “in order to get the same amount of stimulation, you need new material, seeing the same…

May 27, 2015

Foolish Worship

Babylon the great city appears in Revelation as a prostitute, offering her wine of passion to the nations (Revelation 14:8; 17-18). She resembles the prostitute from the book of Proverbs, Lady Folly. Both offer illicit love and the wine of passion (cf. Proverbs 7:1). Both try to seduce simpletons. Both…

May 26, 2015

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