Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
We have moved from death to new life, from Lenten darkness to Easter light. And while Easter Sunday may have come and gone, it's effects are continually with us. This season has brought with it several new relationships, events, and signs of growth for Theopolis. We have been networking with…
In The People's Work , a social history of Christian Worship, Frank Senn summarizes the developments of the medieval period with regard to the Eucharist. He begins by challenging the assumption that medieval society was held together by “the church.” He notes that the church was often divided and conflicted,…
The structure of the Bible resembles something which was grown rather than built, composed rather than assembled. Its employment of “structure-as-sign” at every level from micro- to macrocosmic leads to the conclusion that a hermeneutic worthy of Scripture requires not only training in history, art and music but also the…
For some in first-century Israel, Easter was anything but good news. It was a terrifying surprise. For the rulers and powers that put Jesus to death, the idea that He had been raised by some power beyond their control was chilling. Early in Luke’s gospel, we're told that Herod thought…
Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. (John 21:11) This is one of those texts in the Bible that many people puzzle over. It is not a puzzle…
God is not mocked, Paul says. God is mocked, says Matthew. Who’s right? The two are in perfect harmony, but to see that, we need to run through the passage again. We’ll see that at every point, the mockery is being turned against the mockers. At every point, mockery is…
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In Galatians 2:10, Paul unexpectedly makes a reference to the Jerusalem apostles' interest in the poor and his own eagerness to provide assistance. What is this doing in a letter about justification and Jew/Gentile relations? Historically, this reference suggests that the visit he describes in Galatians 2:10 is the same…
The contrasting lists of “deeds of the flesh” and “fruits of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:16-25 are arranged in a chiastic inversion: a. Walk by Spirit b. Flesh and Spirit at war c. Deeds of the flesh d. No inheritance for flesh c'. Fruits of the Spirit b'. Crucifixion of…
Paul rebukes the Galatians for beginning by the Spirit, and then attempting to revert to the flesh (Galatians 3:1-5). The Spirit initiates the Christian life. Paul makes it clear later in Galatians that the whole Christian life is life in the Spirit. We “walk” by the Spirit, and “stay in…
No “sequence of fossils by itself” can “demonstrate whether Darwinian mutation and natural selection can and did evolve genuine biological novelties (new structures or body plans),” argues Leonard Brand ( Faith, Reason, & Earth History , 281). Some other sort of evidence is needed. Brand doesn't find such evidence in…
Philip Zimbardo and Nikita D. Coulombe ( Man (Dis)connecte d , 226) claim that the average American male teen plays video games 676 hours each year. With that time, he could. . . . Learn the rudiments of French on Rosetta Stone (205 hours); Learn to play the guitar (260…
In Signs and Wonders (65–66), Paul Alexander recounts a conversation with Nigerian theologian Lawrence Nwankwo. Nwankwo expressed the opinion that God wants all Christians to be prosperous. Alexander offered a corrective: “Food, clothing, shelter, health care, and education—these things are necessary and important, but prosperity for all is impossible. It’s…
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