Theopolis Logo

Writing

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

See all
chris-bair-ndczc5739ck-unsplash
Ephesians

“Be Holy for I am Holy”

Below is an excerpt from Mark Horne’s manuscript from his forthcoming commentary on Ephesians, specifically on Paul’s reference to Christians as “saints” (Ephesians 1:1). “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.” Paul greets…

by Mark HorneMarch 25, 2025
300129rgsdl
Exodus

The Perishable in the Ark of the Covenant

There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of Egypt (2 Chronicles 5:10). When Solomon finally brought the ark of the covenant to the finished temple in…

by Jonathan WhiteMarch 18, 2025
tim-marshall-k2u71wv2ei4-unsplash
Exodus

The Stages of a Man’s Life and the Second Table of the Law

In As You Like It , Shakespeare famously describes the seven ages of a man’s life. The division of man’s life into stages is not an invention by Shakespeare, nor merely a common medieval artifice, but an expression of the real journey taken in life. Shakespeare seems to divide up…

by Ryan HandermannMarch 13, 2025
brent-cox-2plebdf1nba-unsplash
Christology

The Essence of God’s Image

Is there a chief characteristic which best illumines the image of God in Man? What is it exactly that makes Man as a lens through which to see God? Moses thoughtfully and deliberately escorts the reader to the characteristic showcased above all else: humility. Though much ink has been spilled…

by Ben LoveladyMarch 11, 2025
josh-applegate-toksfdmznkg-unsplash
Liturgy

Two Ways of Being Liturgical: A Baptist Response to the High Church Exodus

Note: This essay is adapted from a talk delivered at the Howell E. Jackson Committee conference on “Foundations of Baptist Education,” held at Union University, Oct. 4-5, 2024. It’s no secret that evangelicals are converting to High Church traditions, a term I will use to refer to Anglo-Catholicism, Roman Catholicism,…

by Ryan SinniMarch 4, 2025
raimond-klavins-mdlseox3vzo-unsplash
Icons

Don’t Convert: Icons and Images in the Early Church

In recent years, there has been a flurry of conversions from Protestant Christianity towards Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, at least in part due to their supposed early church heritage relative to Protestantism. In the words of Rod Dreher, a former Methodist who converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, “Many evangelicals seek…

by John CarpenterFebruary 25, 2025

Showing page 12 of 309

See all

Showing page 39 of 43

See all

Justice, Justification, Baptism

Michael Gorman ( Becoming the Gospel ) points out what Richard Hays has called the “deft word-play” on the dik - root in 1 Corinthians 6:1-11. The word-play is sometimes lost because English translations use different word groups to translate different forms of the root. If we stick to a…

February 4, 2016
Atonement

Atonement theory?

Since Harnack, theologians have glibly spoken of Anselm's Cur Deus Homo as a form of “atonement theory” or a “model” of atonement. According to Katherine Sonderegger, Harnack told the story of atonement theology in terms of a set of “competing ‘models,' each with schools and eponymous heads”: “Harnack’s nineteenth-century magisterial…

February 4, 2016

Second Exodus

In an essay form Israel's Prophetic Heritage , Bernard W. Anderson analyzes the “exodus typology” in what he calls “second Isaiah” (available here ). He acknowledges that “there are numerous linguistic echoes of the Exodus tradition” throughout the text, he finds ten places where “the new exodus is the specific…

February 3, 2016

Schumpeter on Ideology

In a famous 1949 essay on “ Science and Ideology ,” published in American Economic Review , Joseph Schumpeter highlighted the role of ideology is scientific research, including economic research. The majority of economists, he said, “are ready enough to admit its presence though, like Marx, they find it only…

February 3, 2016

Cinema, Time, Space

In his book, The Culture of Time and Space, 1880-1918 , Stephen Kern explores how technological innovations of the late 19th and early 20th centuries (“telephone, wireless telegraph, x-ray, cinema, bicycle, automobile, and airplane,” 1) reoriented the experience of time and space. Simultaneous communication seemed to erase space, and rapid…

February 3, 2016

Seal of the Spirit

The New Testament speaks of the “seal of the Spirit” in several places (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30). The Spirit marks out believers, sealing them for the day of redemption. The Spirit is the seal, or affixes the seal - a brand, a mark of ownership, a regimental tattoo…

February 3, 2016

Showing page 325 of 2212

Browse by Category

In Medias Res

Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.

Donate

Theopolis is nearly 100% donor-supported. Consider joining us on our mission.