Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
What is below is fairly self-explanatory. This is an exchange I had with a local liberal clergyman on the subject of abortion. The circumstances of the debate are included in the text itself. I initially e-mailed this out to a list of clergy in our city after a local (and…
The seemingly humdrum parts of the Bible often hide overlooked wisdom. Take, for example, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Their stories aren't exactly the most gripping or memorable. They are far less concrete than, say, the story of the Exodus. No one in Ezra is stricken blind or devoured…
For most of the past century, philosophical perspectives on life in the western world have been overtly grim and pessimistic. The optimism of the Enlightenment, generated by confidence in the scientific method and the potential of an increasingly civilized humanity to redress the evils of the world, was shattered by…
Chiastic structures are found all over the Bible, and in recent decades commentators have become more adept at spotting them. But identifying these literary structures is only part of the challenge. There remains the challenge of understanding what they mean. Part of the answer is found in the recognition that…
Part 1 can be found HERE . Clearly, more than just getting worship right is important in changing the world, but since worship is the central act of God’s people, performed on the first day of the week at the center of the world before the very face of God,…
“Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed.” ( Luke 11:27 ) Arguing for Christian morality in a secular society is difficult. A culture which accepts evolutionary dogma has no intellectual place — or inherent desire — for absolute morality, since it believes morality…
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Partly in reaction to Western trends, partly inspired by them,, nineteenth-century Russian Orthodoxy, writes Orlando Figes ( Natasha’s Dance: A Cultural History of Russia ) retreated into Russianness: “the Russian church grew introspective and withdrawn, more intolerant of other faiths, and more protective of its national rituals. It became a…
For nineteenth century Russians, France was the model civilization. The model polity too. James Billington ( Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith ) points out that the early revolutionary upheavals in Russia were inspired by a Western revolutionary nationalism that was ultimately of French origin.…
We are not a nation of atheists, says Ross Douthat . We are religious, but we prefer a religion (and a God) who is OK with “human appetites and all the varied ways they intertwine. From the sermons of Joel Osteen to the epiphanies of Eat, Pray, Love , our…
When Paul urges the Judaizers who trouble the Galatian churches to “mutilate themselves” (Galatians 5:12), it seems like a crude joke. They like cutting foreskins; might as well go all the way to cut off the whole thing. But it’s not just a vulgar insult. As many commentators have noted,…
Rev. Richard Bledsoe explores victimhood and the gospel at the Trinity House site.
INTRODUCTION Zion has been pleading with God to bare His arm and come to her rescue (Isaiah 51:9), and Yahweh has promised to do it in a dramatic public way (52:10). When the arm is revealed, it’s not what Zion expected (53:1). THE TEXT “Who has believed our report? And…
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