Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
This essay is adapted from my articles in Theopolis’s In Medias Res as a series of Holy Week meditations. Like many celebrities such as Kanye or Beyoncé or Adele, Josquin des Prez (d. 1521) was often known only by his first name, in his own time as now. “Josquin” is…
Sight is a major theme in the scriptures. The church has long identified sight’s relationship to the future fulfillment of the eschaton. As Paul says, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1 Cor 13.12). Sight is associated with…
What is the chief end of man? —yes, to glorify God and enjoy him forever. But how ought man–and all creation–so glorify him? I propose a Theopolitan addition to the catechism, question and answer number 1.5, begun in the last question and answered as follows: Earth’s inhabitants were created to…
Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. Genesis 49:21 Frederick Buechner once said, “We move into the extraordinary by way of the ordinary.” In poetry, this happens by way of a compressed code of analogs; often, two or more very ordinary things begin to reveal something that…
The evangelical milieu of America has often lost a vision of the fruit of repentance. We tend to simplify repentance by asking for forgiveness. After all, Jesus tells Peter to forgive 70 times 7. This verse must be paired with Paul’s scoffing at the question: why not sin more so…
I. The hemorrhaging woman. En route to Jairus’ house, Jesus is touched by a woman with a hemorrhage of blood (Matt 9:18–26; Mk 5:21–34; Lk 8:40–48). The story is one that many of us know very well. She has been yoked to her illness for twelve years, all of her…
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Pauline Viviano has a bit of fun at my expense over on the America website(www.americamagazine.org/blogs/client). She’s “reviewing” my commentary on 1 & 2 Kings, but instead of actually discussing my book, she mocks typological interpretation and my use of it in particular. She knew what I was up to without…
With advances in medical technology, it’s possible to keep people alive longer than ever before. This certainly has its wonders, but it’s really an ambiguous achievement. It means that death more and more is the result of decisions about treatment and ending treatment. We can keep someone breathing artificially, a…
A TLS review of several recent books on bio-computing contained old news for some people, but new news for me. The latest wrinkle in computer technology has been to use biological material - DNA - rather than silicon for information storage and processing. One USC scientist was able to create…
Conflicting incentives are built into the American health care system. On the one hand, many patients depend on insurance companies to pay their bills, and come into a health crisis with a “no expense spared” mentality. On the other hand, doctors and hospitals, despite the millions they pull in, are…
Death is an enemy of life in the obvious sense that it brings an individual’s life to an end. But it’s an enemy of life in a broader sense to. Death interrupts life, everyone’s life, life in the broadest sense. Death turns festivity to mourning. Death prevents us from bringing…
Bediako, Mbiti, and Lamin Sanneh are all African theologians who reject Christendom. By “Christendom” they mean a system where the Christianity is domesticated and put into the service of state or imperial interests. While this has been a reality within the West, and it is bad. But it is simplistic…
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