Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The Stranger: Do you have to use so many cuss words? The Dude: What the f*ck you talking about? - The Big Lebowski There was a man I knew, an elder at his church, who, whenever he was called upon to announce a pregnancy, preferred the euphemism “with child” because…
I know what you’re thinking. Organ: funeral, ball game, grand dusty cathedral. Why should modern Christians of such a technological age revisit a thousand year-old instrument? Don’t worry, I will not be trying to punch another hole in my Weird Music Preferences and Opinions card here. The truth is, our…
Do things have natures? As I am posing the question, it is not simply a question of whether there are particular kinds of things in the world that have characteristic features, patterns of behavior, trajectories of growth and development. If that is what the word means, then the answer is…
We are excited to announce our 2016 Nevin Lectures featuring Father John Behr. Fr. John is the Dean of St. Vladimir's Seminary and Professor of Patristics, as well as the author of multiple works. He will be delivering three lectures over the course of two days dealing with "What Protestants…
New Year's Day makes one reflective, at least about the past year, perhaps about life, perhaps, more broadly, about time itself. Many view time as a curse. Some see it as a curse because of missed chances. As one day or year moves on to the next, all we can…
It seems a truism to say that we live in the world: that the world is outside of us. In reality the world is very much inside of us too. In fact the world passes through us as much as we pass through it. We breathe in its air, using…
Showing page 138 of 309
Showing page 36 of 43
Roy Gane’s detailed, technical Cult and Character is a sustained response to Jacob Milgrom’s claim that the purification offers of the Torah did not cleanse the worshiper who offered them but the sanctuary. Gane’s overall argument is convincing, and he makes a lot of intriguing exegetical points along the way.…
Ben Meyer ( The Aims of Jesus , 132) summarizes Jesus message as consisting of two themes: The kingdom of God is a free gift; and it has come in Jesus’ own ministry. Jesus preaches a kingdom that is free and now . It is a demanding kingdom. The free…
In a 2006 article in Past & Present , Jonathan Sheehan traces the origins of the modern contrast of sacred and profane to seventeenth-century dispute about idolatry. It’s a story of keen interest, but this particularly caught my eye. He’s talking about the role of the golden calf incident in…
Like another, better-known Jesuit, Robert Daly has a disarming way about him. What do you do with a Catholic who is as critical of private Masses as most Protestants? A Jesuit who says things like: “It is common to describe lack of contact with tradition as one of the characteristic…
Nancy Jay’s analysis of the patriarchal narratives in Throughout Your Generations Forever is vitiated (to use a solid old Calvinian term) by her reliance on the documentary hypothesis. P says this, J and E that. P traces smooth sacrificial descent from fathers to sons; J and E reveal a more…
Anointing the sick, including the dying, is one of the traditional seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. The Reformers denied that the rite qualified as a sacrament. Formally, this was because anointing did not have a direct authorization from Jesus; more theologically, it was not one of the marks that…
Showing page 484 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
