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Writing

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

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Leviticus

The Theology of the Drink Offering

The drink offering or libation ( nesek ) is mentioned in only three places in the book of Leviticus. When the sheaf of the firstfruits was waved before the Lord, a grain offering was to be burned, along with "its libation, a fourth of a hin of wine [approx. one…

by Peter LeithartJuly 17, 2018
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Atonement

Limited Atonement & J. I. Packer

When I became a Calvinist it wasn't long before I learned that John Owen’s The Death of Death in the Death of Christ was regarded as the masterful treatise on what is known as "Limited Atonement"--the "L" in the TULIP mnemonic device for "the five points of Calvinism." This wasn't…

by Mark HorneJuly 12, 2018
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Hermeneutics

Bathsheba: The Real Story

One of the advantages of paying very close attention to the details in the Bible, especially chronological and genealogical details, is that they can shed light on situations that don’t seem to make much sense apart from them. One such situation is that of Bathsheba. It appears that Bathsheba willingly…

by James B. JordanJuly 10, 2018
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Leviticus

The Oddness of the Feast of Booths

The Feast of Ingathering in the seventh month of the Sinaitic calendar is also called the Feast of Sukkoth, of Booths, also called Feast of Tabernacles. I have usually called it by that last phrase, and it is the most common today; but there is a problem: A tabernacle is…

by James B. JordanJuly 5, 2018
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Matthew

A Universe Less Expanded

When Matthew’s Gospel was first read aloud to the fledgling Christian congregations, the experience must have been like seeing the words “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” appear afresh on cinema screens in 1999. Yet, unlike The Phantom Menace, the New Testament did not disappoint. Why?…

by Mike BullJuly 3, 2018
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Art

Seeking Integration in a Fragmented World: Kintsugi Integration

Fragmentation and integration are phenomena which artist Makoto Fujimura feels bodily, and about which he is concerned profoundly. What do these mean for him? How may we draw his insights into this ongoing consideration—itself integrative—of integration in a fragmented world? Thus far I have been acquainting you with matters already…

by Esther Lightcap MeekJune 28, 2018

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Seal of righteousness

Paul calls circumcision a “seal of righteousness” in Romans 4:11, and that same phrase has historically been applied to baptism. But what does it mean to be a “seal of righteousness”? A seal (Greek sphragis ) is an identifying mark. The word is used to describe brands on animals, identifying…

January 15, 2014

Light of the Nations

An Epiphany meditation on Isaiah 60 at the Trinity House site.

January 15, 2014
Science

Be the bee

Bacon compared different sorts of scientists to varieties of insect: “those who have handled sciencehave either been men of experiment or of theory. The men of experiment are like the ant; they only collect and use. Thetheorists are like the spiders who make cobwebs out of their own substance. But…

January 15, 2014

Both royal and pious

For Sedulius Scottus ( On Christian Rulers ), royal piety was both royal and pious. He urged rulers to practice Christian virtues in their political lives. He encourages kings to a life of prayer, giving several examples of how the Lord “shielded [men] from the dangers of death by holy…

January 15, 2014
Science

Mice Memory

Virginian Hughes reports at National Geographic that researchers at Emory have discovered that mice inherit the memory of certain smells from parents: They recognize smells “even when the offspring have never experienced that smell before,andeven when theyve never met their father. Whats more, their childrenare born with the same specific…

January 15, 2014
Politics

Peaceable prince

Sedulius Scottus ( On Christian Rulers , 66-7) offers this lyrical description of the beauty of good rule: “There are seven things more beautiful than God’s other creations, as wise men say: the cloudless sky, when it marvelously resembles the color of silver; the sun in its brilliance, when in…

January 14, 2014

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