Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
From time to time, when I’ve lectured on how to read the Bible, I’ve used art-music as one example thereof. When we listen to a simple folk song, we hear the same melody over and over again, but this is not how composers write "high" music. Let me amplify. A…
Sermons are rarely more tiresome than when they strive for relevance. Drawing from the latest headlines transforms the preacher into a one-man MacLaughlin Group, a Crossfire without the cross though perhaps with some of the fire, and leave the congregation thinking, "If I wanted Meet the Press, I could have…
Part One: The Old Testament “Drink is in itself a good creature of God, and to be received with thankfulness, but the abuse of drink is from Satan, the wine is from God, but the drunkard is from the Devil” Increase Mather in Wo to Drunkards (1673). 1. The “wine”…
28. These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away into exile: in the 7th year 3023 Jews. 29. In the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar 832 persons from Jerusalem. 30. In the 23rd year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile 745 Jewish people; there were 4600…
Revelation 21:24 says, concerning the light shining from the New Jerusalem, "and the nations will walk by her light, and the kings of the land will bring their glory into her." Similarly, Revelation 22:2 says, concerning the Tree of Life, that "the leaves of the tree were for the healing…
Jeremiah and the Beginning of Jehoiakim’s Reign Now comes Jeremiah, at the beginning of Jehoiakim’s reign, with similar words (Jeremiah 26). Harken to God’s law, he said, or else God will destroy the Temple the same way He sent the Philistines to tear down the Tabernacle at Shiloh (Jeremiah 26:6;…
Showing page 262 of 309
Showing page 35 of 43
Owen Cummings’s brief study of “the Eucharist across the ages and traditions” ( Eucharist & Ecumenism ) holds many surprises. There are some standard well-known texts - the Didache , Justin’s description of the Eucharistic service, The Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus. But then Cummings collection goes rogue. He includes a…
Many have objected to the Trinity on the grounds of its mysteriousness. J.R. Illingworth ( The Doctrine of the Trinity [1907]) responds that natural theology is no less mysterious. Natural theology draws from “the material world and the mind of men,” but both “are baffling.” Nature is perplexing, and so…
A few recent scholars have attempted to enlist Jonathan Edwards on the side of social Trinitarianism, most prominently Amy Plantinga Pauw in her Supreme Harmony of All . Steven Studebaker isn’t buying it, and explains why in his Jonathan Edwards’ Social Augustinian Trinitarianism . Studebaker argues that social Trinitarianism depends…
Deists didn’t think revelation necessary. The original religion was natural religion, and the original natural religion was the best. Steven Studebaker ( Jonathan Edwards’ Social Augustinian Trinitarianism ) shows that one of the leading orthodox responses to this argument was the effort to show that “natural” religion was not natural…
When the four living creatures give glory to God, the 24 elders fall and prostrate themselves and sing of God’s worthiness as Creator. He is worthy to receive glory, honor, and power because “you created all things and through your will the were and are created” (Revelation 4:11). By this…
The merits of Christ play a prominent role in Protestant soteriology. William Perkins captures the basic argument: God accepts the elect and rewards them at the last day “not because works can merit: but by reason of God’s favor, who thus accepts works, and in respect of the merit of…
Showing page 612 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
