Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In the 48th year, the third month, and the fourteenth night, while I slept in my bed, I was taken in vision to Xanadu and set upon a high hill. Looking to the west, I saw a large building, surrounded with gardens and fountains, walks and gravestones, and a bell…
‘Tis the season to be informed–sometimes in gentleness, often with vigor–by a variety of Christians (and others) 1 claiming that it is wrong to celebrate Christmas. I have no desire to force anyone to celebrate Christmas against their will. Indeed, it would be insulting to the high holiday to pretend…
Part 2: The Enoch Factor Back in Open Book 21 we discussed "The Enoch Factor." Because that was several years ago (May 1994) and many people have begun reading this letter since that time, we shall return to the subject here and expand what we wrote at that time. After…
Day 6. The sixth day provides the creation of land animals and of humanity. As we saw above, the second day spills over to the first half of the third day, for only at that point did God say that it was good. Similarly, it seems that the fifth day…
During the past two decades, the "quest of the historical Jesus" has entered a new phase. The first incarnation of the quest was rudely shaken by the publication of Albert Schweitzer’s classic Quest of the Historical Jesus , easily the most devastating and funniest work of New Testament scholarship ever…
At the 1997 Biblical Horizons Summer Conference, the Rev. Jeffrey Meyers presented a series of remarkable lectures on the gospel of Mark. Among his many insightful comments, he suggested that the second gospel continues where the first gospel ends; Matthew ends with Jesus saying "Go" (Matthew 28:19), and Mark’s shows…
Showing page 251 of 309
Showing page 39 of 43
G racy Olmstead has joined the chorus of praise for Netflix’s Stranger Things . She has many insightful things to say about the program, but I have to register a dissent from this: My husband and I joined the legions of hooked fans, as we followed the journey of Will’s…
P ete Spiliakos doesn’t see Trumpism as the fulfillment of Buchananism. Trump is rather evidence of “the erosion of the Buchanan coalition.” Buchanan's appeal didn't depend on his views on trade or foreign policy. He appealed because of his social conservatism. In recent cycles, Spiliakos notes, social conservatism gets no…
Since her recent canonization, Mother Teresa's letter on abortion , addressed to the US Supreme Court, has been making the rounds. It's a call to America to live up to our own stated values, and includes this penetrating analysis of the wider effects of legalized abortion: “The so-called right to…
D aniel Sarewitz argues in New Atlantis that science is sick, and that the disease is systemic and terminal. When science is detached from technology, it is loosened from real-world effects. Research exists only for the sake of further research, and science loses the ability to judge whether or not…
I n a 1979 article in PMLA , John D. Niles examined the “ring composition” of Beowulf. He argued that each of the major battles (Grendel, Grendel’s Mother, the dragon) are arranged chiastically, and that the poem as a whole also has a chiastic shape. He outlines the initial fight…
O K, so you want poetry? Try this. Macbeth, 1.6.1-3, Duncan speaking: “This castle hath a pleasant air. The air / Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself / Unto our gentle senses.” Put aside the fact that Duncan is at the gate of hell, and that he’s wholly deceived about the…
Showing page 253 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
