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Writing

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

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Technology

Simulation as Inoculation

Every advent of new media creates the justifiable reaction from some that the necessarily accompanied amputation may not be worth the extension made possible by the new tools. This is not unique to the Digital Age. Lamoignon Malesherbes, the French politician who was counsel for the defense of Louis XVI,…

by Garrett SoucyApril 2, 2024
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Eschatology

Reject Optimism

A response to Gage Crowder's " The Hole in our Hope ?" Already, the first pages of the Bible promise a bright future. The story starts with the creation of heaven and earth, where heaven is perfect, but the earth is in a state of formless emptiness. Yet, God takes…

by Bogumil JarmulakMarch 27, 2024
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Eschatology

The Hole in our Hope? A Rejoinder

A rejoinder to Bubu Jarmulak's essay, " Embrace Pessimism ." Whereas calumnious critiques are reflections of more on the critic than the work criticized, good critiques are always opportunities for reassessment and improvement if they are received as such . Since its renaissance, the biblical doctrine of postmillennialism—or “optimistic eschatology,”…

by Gage CrowderMarch 26, 2024
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Biblical Studies

Jesus Did Not Pray to Avoid the Cross at Gethsemane

Several decades ago, a pastor (and friend) mentioned in passing at one of our regular breakfasts together that he wasn’t satisfied with the usual reading of Jesus’s prayer in Gethsemane, the usual reading being that Jesus asked the Father to avoid the Cross at Gethsemane. We turned to the passage,…

by James R. RogersMarch 19, 2024
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Church Music

Holy Toledo: A Critique of Eclecticism

On May 21, 1604, the cathedral of Toledo in Spain held job interviews for the post of choirmaster, the head of music at the church. The position had been vacated when the previous occupant, Alonso Lobo, was poached by the nearby cathedral of Seville, and Toledo needed a replacement who…

by John AhernMarch 5, 2024
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Covenant

The Docetic Covenant and Phantom Church Membership

Imagine — counterfactually: on the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus held up an empty hand and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant poured out for you. Drink of it.’ But there was no cup, no wine, nothing. If there’s no sign of the covenant, is there…

by John CarpenterFebruary 27, 2024

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The Passion, Again

I’ve read some surprising things in The New Republic : Andrew Sullivan ‘s analysis of the Roman Catholic Church several years ago was very insightful, and Eugene Genovese , reviewing a book on Southern slavery, encouraged TNR ‘s readers to check out the works of James Henley Thornwell. But I’ve…

March 6, 2004

Air Travel

Air travel requires a reversion to infantile behavior, or at best to behavior characteristic of elementary school kids. You’ve got to stay in the seat, you can’t go to the bathroom without permission from the captain or the flight attendant, you’re served packaged food (if at all) in pouches. How…

March 6, 2004
Literature

Merchant of Veniceas Allegory

Watching the closing courtroom scene of The Merchant of Venice , I was struck by how allegorical it is. First, there’s Antonio, threatened with death for a debt that really was incurred by Bassanio. Second, he’s threatened by a Jew. Third, Shylock says something like “his blood be on my…

March 6, 2004

Foolishness of God

Does the “foolishness of God” carry the connotation of “God playing the fool”? As in, God the jester? Is Paul saying that God the jester is wiser than the sages?

March 4, 2004
Literature

Walter Scott, Again

Further reflection on Scott: His anti-romanticism, as I suggested, is a common theme in early novel-writing. Defoe furnishes another example. Robinson Crusoe is warned by his father against running off to sea and seeking adventure, but Robin is unwilling to settle down to a boring middle-class life. Of course, when…

March 4, 2004
Theology

The Antiquity of Moses

The church fathers went to great lengths to prove that Moses was both more antique than Greek sages, and also to show that the Greek sages were dependent on Moses. While historically plausible, these efforts a form of Christian apologetics done within the confines of pagan thought. The assumption is…

March 4, 2004

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