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Writing

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

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Technology

Simulation as Inoculation

Every advent of new media creates the justifiable reaction from some that the necessarily accompanied amputation may not be worth the extension made possible by the new tools. This is not unique to the Digital Age. Lamoignon Malesherbes, the French politician who was counsel for the defense of Louis XVI,…

by Garrett SoucyApril 2, 2024
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Eschatology

Reject Optimism

A response to Gage Crowder's " The Hole in our Hope ?" Already, the first pages of the Bible promise a bright future. The story starts with the creation of heaven and earth, where heaven is perfect, but the earth is in a state of formless emptiness. Yet, God takes…

by Bogumil JarmulakMarch 27, 2024
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Eschatology

The Hole in our Hope? A Rejoinder

A rejoinder to Bubu Jarmulak's essay, " Embrace Pessimism ." Whereas calumnious critiques are reflections of more on the critic than the work criticized, good critiques are always opportunities for reassessment and improvement if they are received as such . Since its renaissance, the biblical doctrine of postmillennialism—or “optimistic eschatology,”…

by Gage CrowderMarch 26, 2024
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Biblical Studies

Jesus Did Not Pray to Avoid the Cross at Gethsemane

Several decades ago, a pastor (and friend) mentioned in passing at one of our regular breakfasts together that he wasn’t satisfied with the usual reading of Jesus’s prayer in Gethsemane, the usual reading being that Jesus asked the Father to avoid the Cross at Gethsemane. We turned to the passage,…

by James R. RogersMarch 19, 2024
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Church Music

Holy Toledo: A Critique of Eclecticism

On May 21, 1604, the cathedral of Toledo in Spain held job interviews for the post of choirmaster, the head of music at the church. The position had been vacated when the previous occupant, Alonso Lobo, was poached by the nearby cathedral of Seville, and Toledo needed a replacement who…

by John AhernMarch 5, 2024
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Covenant

The Docetic Covenant and Phantom Church Membership

Imagine — counterfactually: on the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus held up an empty hand and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant poured out for you. Drink of it.’ But there was no cup, no wine, nothing. If there’s no sign of the covenant, is there…

by John CarpenterFebruary 27, 2024

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Prayer and the lusty body

Tyndale distinguished true and false prayer in part by distinguishing the role of the body in each. False, hypocritical prayer, relies entirely on the body; hypocrites have “turned [prayer] into a bodily labor, to vex the tongue, lips, eyes, and throat with roaring, and to weary all the members.” This…

June 6, 2007

Cartestian Elizabeth

We blame Descartes for the divided self of modernity, but perhaps we should blame Elizabeth I. In her book on the Book of Common Prayer, Ramie Targoff notes the limits of what Elizabeth demanded of her subjects: “so long as worshippers came to services on Sunday, they were free to…

June 6, 2007

Baptized Body

As you can see to the side, my little book on baptism is now available from Canon Press, just in time to give it a quick read before the PCA General Assembly. It’s short; it’s easy to read; and each copy helps to feed small children who are much cuter…

June 6, 2007

Reversing the curse?

When Adam and Eve sinned, Yahweh cursed the ground on account of/in relation to Adam (Gen 3:17). Following the flood and in response to Noah’s offering, He declares “I will no more curse the ground on account of man” (ADAM; Gen 8:21). Though the word for “curse” differs in these…

June 6, 2007

The Blind Side

Michael Lewis, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game . New York: W. W. Norton, 2006. Hardback, 299 pp. $24.95. Over the past two decades, professional football has evolved so that the outcome of games often turns on the performance of one of the least-noticed and least-glamorous men on the…

June 5, 2007
Theology

Graduation address

It’s customary on an occasion such as this to extol the accomplishments of the graduating seniors, commend students and teachers for a job well done, and encourage you with a stirring speech about the open future that lies before you. ‘Tis the season for clichés, and you’ve heard them all:…

June 2, 2007

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