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Writing

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

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City

The City of Cain

Not long ago, I heard these statistics about New York City: New York City is in $100 billion in debt. 20% of all NYC residents are on food stamps, which cost $250 million a month. 5% of NYC population are on disability, costing $252 million a month. Other assistance costs…

by Richard BledsoeJune 25, 2020
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Empire

Twenty-Five Theses on Empire

1. All political power is ambivalent. Vertical violence of “the state” tends to limit horizontal and contested power between people and between tribes. “The State” brings new oppression, but also a measure of new peace and unity. 2. All political formations are ambiguous like this: a strong family conquers weaker…

by John MilbankJune 23, 2020
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Coronavirus

Virtual Gnosticism and the Church – some disturbing thoughts about Covid19

Gnosticism by any other name would smell the same. But does the church have much of a theological sense of smell, these days, when it comes to the seductions of virtuality in our worshipping communities? Social isolation during a global pandemic makes good public health sense, but whether church should…

by Paul TysonJune 16, 2020
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American Culture

The Priorities of Priests and Protests

It is a remarkable thing, you know, this thing called priority. Just a few weeks ago, religious leaders were boldly asserting in their high-dollar online videos that it was too dangerous to return to worship and that we needed to listen to our political and health leaders. "They are the…

by Uri BritoJune 15, 2020
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James

Anger, Riots, Violence, & Justice: How the Epistle of James Came to be Written

Somewhere in the city of Jerusalem on a rooftop just a few years after the ascension of Jesus and the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost. . . ". . . and just when are you guys going to live up to your ‘Sons of Thunder’ reputation? Huh? A lot…

by Jeff MeyersJune 9, 2020
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Proverbs

Lady Wisdom Eve

In my book, Solomon Says: Directives for Young Men ( Amazon , Kindle ) I mention that Solomon portrays wisdom as a woman. But I don’t ask (or answer!) why he did so. Solomon uses the figure of Lady Wisdom without apology or explanation: Wisdom cries aloud in the street,…

by Mark HorneJune 2, 2020

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Mapping Time

“Typology is the map of time.” Pastor Rich Bledsoe discusses typology and time at the Trinity House web site.

April 1, 2013

Law and History

The latest in Pastor Ralph Smith’s essays on Deuteronomy is available at the Trinity House web site.

April 1, 2013

Easter Homily, Isaiah 55

Let us pray. Father, You raised Your Son from the dead and installed Him as Lord and Christ. Fill us with the Spirit of His resurrection, that we present ourselves to You as those alive from the dead and our members as instruments of righteousness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.…

March 31, 2013

Holy Saturday Homily, Isaiah 54

Let us pray. Father, we gather this night in hope that You will dispel our every darkness by the glorious resurrection of Jesus Your Son. Raise us and make us shine with the brightness of Your glory. Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you…

March 31, 2013
History

Carnival and cruelty

Bauman ( Life in Fragments: Essays in Postmodern Morality , 148-50 ) notes that in the past public executions and blood sports “were rare, festive and party-like occasions,” within the realm of Bakhtin’s “carnival culture - the periodical spectacular reversals of the daily norms” that underscored “the binding routine of…

March 30, 2013
History

Pure Profanity

Modernity, says Zygmunt Bauman ( Life in Fragments: Essays in Postmodern Morality , 139-40), is a “civilization of transgression .” Citing Krzysztof Pomian, he says that in modernity “borders are there sole to be transgressed” and “does not just tolerate transgressions as far as they remain marginal; it provokes them.”…

March 30, 2013

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