Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
One reason readers assume Paul is trying to prove that all human beings are sinful is that they understand him to be arguing that no one can keep the law. That means, they think, his opponents must believe that human nature is potentially sinless. Taking Paul’s statement that, if you…
[Note: This post was written prior to our name changing to Theopolis Institute.] What is Trinity House for? Three things: We aim to advance the reformation of the church and, through the church, to promote the renewal of culture; in furthering reformation, we aspire to be a site of fraternal,…
This is the third in a series of studies of the Third Word, and especially of Deuteronomy 14. In 1979 Stephen Kaufman penned a groundbreaking essay on Deuteronomy, arguing that it was a meticulously structured and carefully composed book. In his view, chapters 12 to 26 in particular follow the…
A large mistake is made in understanding Romans if one assumes that Paul is concerned with proving the fact that no one can ever live without sin—or that all attempts at obeying God’s commands are at least tainted with human sinfulness. The first problem with such an assumption is that…
This is the second in a series of studies on the Third Word, and especially on the food laws of Deuteronomy 14. In the second part of this series, I argue that Moses’ reworking of the Ten Words in Deuteronomy 5 includes adding nuance to the Third Word. This prepares…
Recent months have brought a lively discussion of Christian participation in the culture war. On the one hand, the pro-life movement appears to be making some slow progress on the abortion issue. The trial of abortionist and serial murderer Kermit Gosnell has the potential to awaken those who are nominally…
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Ryan Leif Hansen doesn't think it's accurate to say that apocalyptic depictions of evil are “dualistic” ( Silence and Praise ). At the very least, the kind of dualism needs to be specified. Hansen writes, “evil is the result of a resistance to divine rule and order, and a transgressing…
John Knox's influence on the modern world has been enormous. He shaped the Scottish Reformed church, and so shaped the faith and culture of the corners of the world to which Scottish Reformed missionaries and pastors spread. Yet, it's been nearly thirty years since we've seen a major biography. As…
Berkeley is an anti-abstractionist. What is abstraction? Berkeley is basically taking on Locke, who argues (in Berkeley's telling) that our process of thought works something liek this: We have a particular thing that invariably has a combination of qualities. But those qualities are abstractions. We can see resemblances among things:…
According to TLS reviewer David Morgan, Peter Frankopan's The Silk Roads is the fruit of teenage dissatisfaction with world history: “Frankopan tells us that as a teenager he became increasingly dissatisfied with the version of history he had been taught: essentially the ‘Rise of the West,' in which Greece led…
The gospel is all about teaching us to walk. Once we walked, zombie-like, in death and sin (Ephesians 2:1), but God raised us in Christ to walk in good works ( 2:10). We used to walk like the Gentiles, in darkness and dissipation, without God in the world. Now that…
Dickens's Hard Times takes place in Coketown, a coal mining town, focused on a small cluster of characters. There’s Gradgrind, a leading citizen and MP and education reformer. The Gradgrind children, Tom and Louisa, have both been trained according to Gradgrind’s modern educational methods. Bounderby is the manager of one…
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