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

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Ephesians

“Be Holy for I am Holy”

Below is an excerpt from Mark Horne’s manuscript from his forthcoming commentary on Ephesians, specifically on Paul’s reference to Christians as “saints” (Ephesians 1:1). “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.” Paul greets…

by Mark HorneMarch 25, 2025
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Exodus

The Perishable in the Ark of the Covenant

There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of Egypt (2 Chronicles 5:10). When Solomon finally brought the ark of the covenant to the finished temple in…

by Jonathan WhiteMarch 18, 2025
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Exodus

The Stages of a Man’s Life and the Second Table of the Law

In As You Like It , Shakespeare famously describes the seven ages of a man’s life. The division of man’s life into stages is not an invention by Shakespeare, nor merely a common medieval artifice, but an expression of the real journey taken in life. Shakespeare seems to divide up…

by Ryan HandermannMarch 13, 2025
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Christology

The Essence of God’s Image

Is there a chief characteristic which best illumines the image of God in Man? What is it exactly that makes Man as a lens through which to see God? Moses thoughtfully and deliberately escorts the reader to the characteristic showcased above all else: humility. Though much ink has been spilled…

by Ben LoveladyMarch 11, 2025
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Liturgy

Two Ways of Being Liturgical: A Baptist Response to the High Church Exodus

Note: This essay is adapted from a talk delivered at the Howell E. Jackson Committee conference on “Foundations of Baptist Education,” held at Union University, Oct. 4-5, 2024. It’s no secret that evangelicals are converting to High Church traditions, a term I will use to refer to Anglo-Catholicism, Roman Catholicism,…

by Ryan SinniMarch 4, 2025
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Icons

Don’t Convert: Icons and Images in the Early Church

In recent years, there has been a flurry of conversions from Protestant Christianity towards Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, at least in part due to their supposed early church heritage relative to Protestantism. In the words of Rod Dreher, a former Methodist who converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, “Many evangelicals seek…

by John CarpenterFebruary 25, 2025

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Natural Supernaturalism

Naturalistic explanations of nature’s existence are impossible, David Hart contends ( The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss , 96), because “nature . . . is that which by definition already exists.” Nature’s explanation thus inevitably and “logically” must lie “beyond the system of causes that nature comprises; it is,…

January 7, 2014

Modern World Picture

The great change in the modern world picture was not the abandonment of the Aristotelian and Ptolmaic cosmology. That, argues David Hart ( The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss , 58-9) was only a ripple on the surface. The really big change came in the idea of causation: “The…

January 7, 2014

Christus Victor

The nations will be saved. They will come to the light (Isaiah 60:3). How? We can work backward through Isaiah. They come into the light that shines from Israel. That light is the light of Yahweh Himself dwelling among and shining through His translucent people. Israel becomes that light after…

January 7, 2014

Arise, Shine

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of Yahweh has risen ( zarach ) upon you,” Isaiah announces (60:1). It’s a rich statement. Yahweh’s glory is said to “rise” in Deuteronomy 33:2, as the Lord moves from Sinai to Seir with his 10,000 holy ones shining with…

January 7, 2014

No condemnation

Psalm 37 is a wisdom Psalm that assures Israel that Yahweh will not let the wicked flourish forever. The faithful should persevere in seemingly fruitless faithfulness because the wicked who spring up like grass will also wither like grass. Part of this assurance is that the Lord will rescue His…

January 7, 2014
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Hijinks with Martin Gardner

The NYTBR reviewer of Martin Gardner’s Undiluted Hocus-Pocus: The Autobiography of Martin Gardner recounts some of Gardner’s many pranks. “Once, a houseguest left behind a single glove at the home of Gardners friend Bob Murray. Murray went to several local department stores until he found a pair of gloves that…

January 6, 2014

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