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

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Ephesians

How we get Ephesians 2 Wrong: Part One: Jews & Gentiles

We assume we understand “chapter two” of Ephesians, and therefore generally get the entire Old Testament wrong. We also misunderstand the evangelism in Acts. Our misunderstandings might have happened without Ephesians 2, but the confusion is mutually reinforcing. This confusion (either cause or effect or both) also extends to a…

by Mark HorneSeptember 8, 2022
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Ecclesiology

The Groaning Church

From the Cucumber to the Cross All creation groans with the pains of childbirth, so the Apostle Paul tells us in his epistle to the Roman church. This is a fact that I believe every living person not only knows, but feels deeply. Something about this world just isn’t quite…

by Zephram FosterSeptember 6, 2022
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Colossians

The Household Code in Colossians

Angela Standhartinger has written about the so-called “house-hold code in Col. 3:18-4:1.” Her introductory paragraph is illuminating. The household code in Col. 3.18-4.1 is the earliest text in the New Testament that calls on women, children and slaves to submit to men, fathers and masters. In many respects this text…

by Ralph Allan SmithAugust 30, 2022
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Proverbs

Danger and Play and Proverbs 31

On the Woman Question Strength and honor are her clothing And she shall rejoice in time to come. There’s been, I’m sorry to say, more Discourse. Primarily though not exclusively on Twitter. About the Woman Question, again. So I figured I’d make things a little worse by highlighting an aspect…

by Susannah Black RobertsAugust 23, 2022
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Biblical Theology

The Murder of the Real (Part 2)

How to Spot a Simulation The smartest way to take over the world is to replace it with a fake one. The smartest way to replace it with a fake one is little by little. Part 2 Part 1 can be found HERE . Dirt or gold Another difference between…

by Mike BullAugust 18, 2022
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Zephaniah

The Murder of the Real

How to Spot a Simulation The smartest way to take over the world is to replace it with a fake one. The smartest way to replace it with a fake one is little by little. Part 1 Deception is the common factor in all of Satan’s schemes, but throughout history…

by Mike BullAugust 16, 2022

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History

Constantine, ecumenist

In 325, Constantine wrote a letter announcing the deposition of Eusebius of Nicomedia. As Timothy Barnes points out, it exemplifies the “pattern of respect tempered with frustration” that characterized Constantine’s relations with the bishops. One passage is reminiscent of Paul’s rebuke of the Galatians: “it was truly worthy of wonder…

November 19, 2008

Eucharistic meditation

2 Chronicles 3:1: Solomon began to build the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Naomi gives Ruth specific instructions for her approach to Boaz:…

November 16, 2008

Exhortation

Ruth 3 begins and ends with “rest.” Naomi seeks “rest” for Ruth (v. 1), and after Ruth meets Boaz on the threshing floor, Naomi assures her daughter-in-law and Boaz will not “rest” until he has finished the task. That’s his job as a redeemer: To bring rest. Redeemers buy brothers…

November 16, 2008

Public liturgy

Fenn quotes Daniel Bell’s complaints that liturgies “drain” energies that should belong to useful institutions like political parties and comments “On this view, the genuine public sphere is outside the church, which becomes the sphere of private self-absorption and self-celebration.” By contrast, “to the believer, it is the liturgy that…

November 15, 2008

Liturgical politics

Fenn again: Liturgy is the public work of the people and thus “to be a person . . . meant [for the Greeks] precisely to have a role in the public work of the community.” Thus, “to take part in the Christian liturgy is to take on one’s role in…

November 15, 2008
History

Witness, Liturgy, Modernity

Richard Fenn writes, “In secularized Western societies . . . many individuals are caught in a double-bind. On the one hand, they take seriously the role of the credible witness, and seek, on grounds of their own testimony, to be taken seriously, whether they are reporting what they saw on…

November 15, 2008

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