Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8) O God the Father, creator of heaven and earth, Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, who inspired Creation with the breath of your nostrils, who placed Adam in the…
For nearly a half-century, Sodom has been a key symbol in the American culture wars. On the one side, we have an aggressive movement among homosexuals that has first decriminalized homosexual conduct, then to force cultural and legal recognition of homosexuals as a minority and to normalize homosexual behaviors, finally…
Speaking of the Church, Romans 11:16-17 says, "And if the root be holy, the branches are also. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the root of the fatness of the…
At the end of Isaiah 61, Yahweh's Servant rejoices because the Lord clothes Him with salvation and righteousness. He decks Him like a bridegroom with a garland on His head. He wears jewels like a bride. He is a new bridegroom in a new garden of Eden, a garden of…
Before anything else, a word about “Torah” may be in order. I have been persuaded that “law” is a bad translation of “Torah,” even though it is evident that what is called “Torah” does have commandments, statutes, and ordinances in abundance. Why not “law?” “Law” as a translation for “Torah”…
Few novelists seem as innocent of the temptation to punditry as Jane Austen. Though living through a period that witnessed the birth of an independent United States, the French Revolution and the Terror, the Napoleonic wars and the rise of revolutionary romanticism, and the upheavals of the Industrial Revolution, she…
Showing page 137 of 309
Showing page 35 of 43
For aspiring writers, I offer five key stages of writing a book. My plan applies best to non-fiction. Fiction, I’m sure, has its own rhythms. Stage 1: Ambition. You want to write the definitive yet wildly popular book about everything. This stage is marked by long periods of dreamy reflection,…
Writing about the church of England’s rejection of female bishops in The New Yorker , Jane Kramer notes that “there are already calls for the disestablishment of the Church of England.” She doesn’t see that as a realistic possibility, but does think that there will be consequences: “there is some…
“Though He slay me, I will hope in Him,” Job says (13:15). But hope is not inconsistent with complaint. In hope, “I will argue my ways to His face,” he immediately adds. Job argues with the Lord not in spite of hope, but because of hope. He’s like an attorney…
I’ve argued in various contexts that the sheer existence of the church forces a choice on political powers. They can try to suppress the church, they can accommodate and make room, they can try to bound off the church and keep it safely private. But once the church exists, and…
In his contribution to The Word Leaps the Gap: Essays on Scripture and Theology in Honor of Richard B. Hays , John Barclay highlights the creativity of Paul’s notion of reciprocity in the church. Reciprocity as Paul conceives it “has the capacity to complicate power relations, and to work against…
Residing as we do in a monetary economy, we immediately and thoughtlessly translate biblical warnings and cautions about debt into financial terms. “Owe nothing to anyone” (Romans 13:8) means “don’t take out a thirty-year mortgage.” It’s much more likely that Paul has social debts in mind. This might include indebtedness…
Showing page 839 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
