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Writing

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

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Christendom

The Fundamentals of the Faith

Reflecting on the centennial of the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy, Theopolis contributor Tim Nichols asked Dr. Leithart and me what the five fundamentals of the faith were today . His thoughts went something like this: Back in the early 20th century, in response to a ruinous drift away from the historic Christian…

by Jackson WatersNovember 26, 2025
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Matthew

Testimonium Negativum: Josephus, Matthew’s Gospel, and New Evidence for the Coming Christ

1. Introduction In this article, I delve into some parallels found in the scholarly analysis of two important literary works: the Testimonium Flavianum by Josephus ( Antiquities 18.63–64) and the Olivet Discourse in the gospel of Matthew (Matthew 24–25). These texts have been at the center of countless academic discussions,…

by Jonathan SedlakNovember 18, 2025
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Genesis

Trauma and Glory: Overcoming Suffering with Joseph

Over the last twenty years, our American culture has created a culture of obsession over trauma. This could be a result of publications such as The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, which explores the lasting effect on health that traumatic experiences can have. Or it could…

by Lindsey TollefsonNovember 11, 2025
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Uncategorized

Lips like a Thread of Crimson: Midrash on a Theme from the Song of Solomon

The Beloved celebrates the beauty of his Shulamite’s lips, describing them as “a thread of crimson” upon a mouth that is altogether lovely (Song 4:3). It were easy perhaps to pass by this all too quickly, passing it off, if we attend to it at all, as a kind of…

by Mark BriansNovember 4, 2025
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Culture

The Rule of the Incarnate

This article originally appeared at American Reformer on October 29, 2025. Reproduced with permission. Why the West Was Never Meant to Be Governed by Law Alone Back in the early nineties, I was in the candidate process for Undergraduate Pilot Training with the Texas Air National Guard, hoping to fly…

by Ronald DodsonOctober 31, 2025
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Deuteronomy

A Father’s Liturgical Logic: The Pastoral Aim of the Davidic Revolution

In his book From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution , Peter Leithart shows that David, the author of so many Psalms and the musician who trained choirs, instituted a musical and liturgical revolution of how the people of Israel worshipped. The liturgical revolution in turn was designed to…

by Ralph Allan SmithOctober 29, 2025
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Numbering Solomon’s Wisdom, 1 Kings 4:29-34

The hymn in praise of Solomon’s wisdom at the end of 1 Kings 4 makes a number of points. First, Solomon?s wisdom is rooted in his ?heart?E(v. 29), which has the discernment that the Lord had promised him. Second, Solomon?s wisdom matches the breadth of his kingdom. He had asked…

September 4, 2004

Numbering Solomon’s Wisdom, 1 Kings 4:29-34

The hymn in praise of Solomon’s wisdom at the end of 1 Kings 4 makes a number of points. First, Solomon?s wisdom is rooted in his ?heart?E(v. 29), which has the discernment that the Lord had promised him. Second, Solomon?s wisdom matches the breadth of his kingdom. He had asked…

September 4, 2004

Temple and Land

At a number of points, the names of the deputies or the place names listed in 1 Ki 4:7-19 are linked with terms that are used in the temple narratives in 1 Kings 6-8. Elonbeth-hanan, or Elon Beth-hanan, uses a form of EYL, one form of which means ?gatepost?E(1 Ki…

September 4, 2004

Barth on Sacraments

I started this article some time ago, and will never be able to finish it off. It may be of some use in its present form, however. Justification and sacramental theology were the chief doctrinal issues in the division between Roman Catholicism and the Reformers at the time of the…

September 4, 2004

Abrahamic Prostitute

The real mother in 1 Kings 3 displays a sort of Abrahamic quality: She is willing to give up her son, her only son, the son she loves, in hopes of saving him. And she gets back more than she hoped: She not only saves his life, but heads home…

September 2, 2004

Israel in James 3:12?

James condemns those who use tongues for blessing and cursing ?Eblessing God, and cursing men made in the image of God. Among the images he uses to express this is the image of the tree and fruit. Fig trees cannot product olives, nor vines produce figs (3:12). In many passages,…

September 2, 2004

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