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Writing

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

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Marriage

Eating the Meat, or Inviting Colonization?

One common trope which is regularly invoked in current debates about the defensibility versus the danger of Christian engagement with critical theories (or, species of Critical Theory) is the idea of “ eating the meat but spitting out the bones .” Usually not far behind is a nod to the…

by James WoodMarch 2, 2021
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Proverbs

Proverbial Eschatology

I am writing about the book of Proverbs in the Bible and “Eschatology.” I don’t refer only to the end of time, or “last things” that will happen in history before it ends as we know it. I am referring to all times of God’s judgment wherein He ends an…

by Mark HorneFebruary 25, 2021
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Augustine

Primacy of Worship for Political Unity

“Unity” is the word of the day. In his inaugural address, Joe Biden invoked St. Augustine to inspire Americans to come together around certain shared values. As others have recently argued, Biden misreads Augustine in important ways. My argument here is that if we seek political unity and civic health…

by James WoodFebruary 23, 2021
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Matthew

Jesus, the Temple Tax and Four-Fold Atonement

This is part two of a series which began here ( The Half Shekel Temple Tax ) in which I answer back, hoping not to rebut but to glorify, some observations Peter Leithart made in a thought-provoking piece about the Temple Tax as atonement ( Atonement Money ). Adding economic…

by Jerry BowyerFebruary 16, 2021
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American Culture

Wokeness as Post-Protestant Neopaganism

It is now commonplace to characterize Wokeness (or “ Wokeism ”) as a religion , or at least religion-like . What I would like to explore is an elaboration on this emergent consensus, supplementing it with some theological analysis. Wokeness, I propose, is a form of post-Protestant neopaganism. It resembles…

by James WoodFebruary 9, 2021
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Movies

Alien 3: Through New Eyes

Science Fiction movies often retell old stories and myths with greater impact for modern people. A being from another world or a technologically advanced human can embody an ancient god or demon and viewers are suddenly unwittingly enthralled by Ur tales that emerged from hundreds of years of human experience.…

by Jacob GuckerFebruary 2, 2021

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Theology

Word and faith

Faith is inherent in human life because we live in response to language. Soldiers charge into the fray on orders from a general they trust. If they knew exactly what was ahead, their charge wouldn’t be an act of faith. They don’t know, so they must simply trust the commander.…

February 14, 2007
Theology

Third term

Lori Branch comments that the “cultural formations of western Christianity” grew out of “binary, Protestant-Catholic debates.” But this binarism is disrupted by the entry of a third, Eastern Orthodoxy. When the church history of the last century is written, the revitalization of Orthodoxy in the West will be seen as…

February 14, 2007
Literature

The power of song

Wordsworth’s 30th Ecclesiastical Sonnet, on Canute: A PLEASANT music floats along the Mere, From Monks in Ely chanting service high, While-as Canute the King is rowing by: “My Oarsmen,” quoth the mighty King, “draw near, “That we the sweet song of the Monks may hear!” He listens (all past conquests,…

February 14, 2007
Theology

Presbyterian identity crisis

What is the “Federal Vision” or “Auburn Avenue” dispute about? Partly, it’s about theology. I believe the core dispute has to do with nature and importance of what Reformed theologians call the “visible church,” the universal body of believers organized in empirical local communities. A central contention of the “Federal…

February 13, 2007

Prayer and study

Responding to the Rosenstock-Huessy quotation about prayer and research, Eric Enlow of the Handong International Law School sent this from Simone Weil: “Students must therefore work without any wish to gain good marks, to pass examinations; to win school successes; without any reference to their natural abilities and tastes; applying…

February 13, 2007
Literature

Cat poets

Smart says of his cat Jeoffry: For when his day’s work is done his business more properly begins. For he keeps the Lord’s watch in the night against the adversary . . . For he counteracts the Devil, who is death, by brisking about the life. Eliot’s “Gumbie Cat” named…

February 12, 2007

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