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

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Books

For the Life of This World

Russian Orthodox liturgist Alexander Schmemann died in 1983, but his importance continues to grow, sometimes in surprising ways. A Russian transplanted to Paris and then to Crestwood, New York, he was an acute observer of the American religious scene. He possessed the clarity of vision the Spirit often grants to…

by Peter LeithartApril 15, 2013
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Deuteronomy

Law and History: How to Read the Law of Moses (Part 5)

This is the fifth in a series of studies of Deuteronomy 22:3-23:8. "A bastard ( mazmer ) shall not enter into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation shall none of his enter into the assembly of Yahweh" (Deuteronomy 23:2). [i] The translation “bastard” here for mazmer ,…

by Ralph Allan SmithApril 11, 2013
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Christian Nationalism

Christian Imperialism

The Enlightenment project is very comprehensible in terms of the “Wars of Religion” that followed the Reformation. It's questionable whether all that is said about the Wars of Religion is entirely fair (R. J. Rushdoony’s Christian Survey of World History has some very helpful things to say about this). Still,…

by Richard BledsoeApril 8, 2013
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Deuteronomy

Law and History: How to Read the Law of Moses (Part 4)

The fourth in a series of studies on Deuteronomy 22:30-23:8. One wounded by crushing, or cut in the member shall not enter into the assembly of Yahweh (Deuteronomy 23:1. [i] The translation of this verse varies in different English versions. The basic idea is clear enough, however: a eunuch is…

by Ralph Allan SmithApril 3, 2013
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Theopolis News

Leithart at Wheaton

Trinity House President Peter Leithart will give a lecture on violence at the 2013 Wheaton Theology Conference later this week.

by Peter LeithartApril 2, 2013
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Deuteronomy

Law and History: How to Read the Law of Moses (Part 3)

The third in a series of studies on Deuteronomy 22-23. This continues the second essay, which examines Deuteronomy 22:30: "A man shall not take his father’s wife, and shall not uncover his father’s wing" (Hebrew: kanaf ). The Sin of Ham Another story would almost certainly occur to an ancient…

by Ralph Allan SmithMarch 27, 2013

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Singulars and Plurals

Psalm 1 pronounces a blessing on the “ man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked” (v. 1). For some modern translators, it's a sexist text: Aren't women blessed when they refuse the counsel of the wicked? “Man” is not an absolutely necessary translation. The Hebrew ‘ish…

September 2, 2015

How To Create Church Fights

Denominational Christianity is a safety-valve. When things get too hot in a congregation, one or the other party leaves and starts its own church. Pressure reduces. Over time, the divided parties might even make up after a fashion. Denominational Christianity seems a peace treaty. Lesslie Newbigin, a leader in the…

September 1, 2015

Shoes and Holy Ground

In a recent Theopolis lecture, James Jordan pointed to the ritual of Ruth 4 to explain the significance of removing shoes on holy ground. There, a man hands over a shoe as a sign of submission and ceding authority to another. To remove shoes is to acknowledge that God is…

September 1, 2015

Why Evangelical Films Fail

I went to a screening of Woodlawn last Saturday. Directed by Birmingham brothers Jon and Andrew Erwin, the film tells the true story of revival among the players on the football team at Woodlawn High School in Birmingham during a racially tense period of the 1970s. The film focuses on…

September 1, 2015

The Scope of Revelation

In the first volume of his Reformed Dogmatics (435-6), Herman Bavinck notes that the final end of everything is “God Himself,” since “he can never come to an end in creation but can only rest in himself.” Revelation's purpose is consistent with this overall aim. Thus “the object of revelation…

August 31, 2015

Crisis of Manhood

One of the many illuminating observations in Philipp Blom's Fracture is his observation that the early 20th century witnessed a massive crisis of manhood. He sees signs of it already in pre-World War I Europe (covered in Blom's The Vertigo Years ) as the rise of machinery and factory labor…

August 31, 2015

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