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Writing

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

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Technology

Simulation as Inoculation

Every advent of new media creates the justifiable reaction from some that the necessarily accompanied amputation may not be worth the extension made possible by the new tools. This is not unique to the Digital Age. Lamoignon Malesherbes, the French politician who was counsel for the defense of Louis XVI,…

by Garrett SoucyApril 2, 2024
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Eschatology

Reject Optimism

A response to Gage Crowder's " The Hole in our Hope ?" Already, the first pages of the Bible promise a bright future. The story starts with the creation of heaven and earth, where heaven is perfect, but the earth is in a state of formless emptiness. Yet, God takes…

by Bogumil JarmulakMarch 27, 2024
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Eschatology

The Hole in our Hope? A Rejoinder

A rejoinder to Bubu Jarmulak's essay, " Embrace Pessimism ." Whereas calumnious critiques are reflections of more on the critic than the work criticized, good critiques are always opportunities for reassessment and improvement if they are received as such . Since its renaissance, the biblical doctrine of postmillennialism—or “optimistic eschatology,”…

by Gage CrowderMarch 26, 2024
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Biblical Studies

Jesus Did Not Pray to Avoid the Cross at Gethsemane

Several decades ago, a pastor (and friend) mentioned in passing at one of our regular breakfasts together that he wasn’t satisfied with the usual reading of Jesus’s prayer in Gethsemane, the usual reading being that Jesus asked the Father to avoid the Cross at Gethsemane. We turned to the passage,…

by James R. RogersMarch 19, 2024
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Church Music

Holy Toledo: A Critique of Eclecticism

On May 21, 1604, the cathedral of Toledo in Spain held job interviews for the post of choirmaster, the head of music at the church. The position had been vacated when the previous occupant, Alonso Lobo, was poached by the nearby cathedral of Seville, and Toledo needed a replacement who…

by John AhernMarch 5, 2024
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Covenant

The Docetic Covenant and Phantom Church Membership

Imagine — counterfactually: on the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus held up an empty hand and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant poured out for you. Drink of it.’ But there was no cup, no wine, nothing. If there’s no sign of the covenant, is there…

by John CarpenterFebruary 27, 2024

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History

Roman Patronage

In a famous passage in de officiis (2.26-8), Cicero traces the collapse of the Roman “protectorate” into an oppressive conqueror. The passage is as interesting for his characterization of early Roman expansion as it is for his analysis of the collapse of earlier political standards. “Let me add, however, that…

January 6, 2009
Science

Genetic Platonism

In a recent interview on his Mars Hill Audio magazine, Ken Myers interviews Craig Holdrege, co-author of Beyond Biotechnology . One of Holdrege’s key points is that scientists have moved well beyond the early idea that the gene is the “unmoved mover” that determines everything about an organism and now…

January 5, 2009

Sermon notes, Sunday after Epiphany

INTRODUCTION After a long sojourn in Galilee , Jesus returns to Judea (cf. 4:12 ), and immediately the Pharisees put Him on trial (19:3) by posing a legal question. As they do later in Jerusalem , the Jewish leaders want to trap Jesus to accuse Him ( 22:15 -46). THE…

January 5, 2009

Eucharistic Meditation, Second Sunday After Christmas

Hebrews 10:11-14: And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His…

January 4, 2009

Exhortation, Second Sunday After Christmas

Because the church is God’s own civilization, His city and kingdom, she marks time by her own calendar. The church lives by rhythms different from the rhythms of the world, including temporal rhythms. Yet, during the past week, many of us stayed up late to welcome the New Year and…

January 4, 2009

Transsiberian

Virtually the first English words you hear in the recent film Transsiberian come from a pastor leading a mission trip to minister to children in China. “Ours is not a gray world,” he says. “Under the bright light of truth,” he says, “it’s a world of clear contrasts: black and…

December 31, 2008

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