Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The Stranger: Do you have to use so many cuss words? The Dude: What the f*ck you talking about? - The Big Lebowski There was a man I knew, an elder at his church, who, whenever he was called upon to announce a pregnancy, preferred the euphemism “with child” because…
I know what you’re thinking. Organ: funeral, ball game, grand dusty cathedral. Why should modern Christians of such a technological age revisit a thousand year-old instrument? Don’t worry, I will not be trying to punch another hole in my Weird Music Preferences and Opinions card here. The truth is, our…
Do things have natures? As I am posing the question, it is not simply a question of whether there are particular kinds of things in the world that have characteristic features, patterns of behavior, trajectories of growth and development. If that is what the word means, then the answer is…
We are excited to announce our 2016 Nevin Lectures featuring Father John Behr. Fr. John is the Dean of St. Vladimir's Seminary and Professor of Patristics, as well as the author of multiple works. He will be delivering three lectures over the course of two days dealing with "What Protestants…
New Year's Day makes one reflective, at least about the past year, perhaps about life, perhaps, more broadly, about time itself. Many view time as a curse. Some see it as a curse because of missed chances. As one day or year moves on to the next, all we can…
It seems a truism to say that we live in the world: that the world is outside of us. In reality the world is very much inside of us too. In fact the world passes through us as much as we pass through it. We breathe in its air, using…
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As is well known from Confessions , Faustus played a crucial role in Augustine’s formation. As a young Manichean Auditor and devotee of astrology, Augustine puzzled over philosophical and quasi-scientific conundrums that he wanted to pose to a Manichean master. When Bishop Faustus visited Carthage, Augustine found him affable, humble,…
Though Augustine had the arsenal of the contra Iudaeos tradition at hand in responding to Faustus, he had become dissatisfied with it. After his debate with Fortunatus the Manichean, Augustine had embarked on a deep study of Paul and Genesis and came to recognize the weaknesses of this tradition, whose…
When Augustine turns to the typology of unclean foods in his reply to Faustus, he introduces a linguistic analogy that lays a foundation for the later arguments. Paul’s claim that all things are clean (1 Timothy 4:4) does not contradict the Old Testament, since Paul is talking about the nature…
Revelation 12-14 roughly follows the sequence of the first half of the week of creation. The overall movement is from heaven to sea to earth. Genesis 1 begins with light, then the separation of waters above and below, the formation of sea and land. We can be more specific. Land…
In The Dome of Eden , Stephen Webb wonders what might have happened if J. Gresham Machen, Princeton theologian and founder of Westminster Theological Seminary, had been at the Scopes trial. In Webb's account, Machen's main concern was to challenge the naturalistic presumptions of Darwinism: “Machen never rejected the basic…
In Purity Rabbinic Judaism (46), Jacob Neusner comments on the role of liquidity in the purity system: “Dry inanimate objects or food are not susceptible to uncleanness. What is wet is susceptible. So liquids activate the system.” A dead animal on a pile of grain contaminates only the grain that…
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