Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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Barth famously argues there is an I-Thou within humanity itself that manifests the inner reciprocity, the differentiation and union, that is the life of the Trinity: “that it is in the differentiation of man and woman, the relation of sex, that there is this repetition, is an indication of the…
Augustine taught that scientia, knowledge of historical events, was necessary for Christian theology, but that all theology aspired to love of God, which is more closely bound with “sapientia” or wisdom. By the time Aquinas raised the question of whether sacred doctrine is a form of wisdom, however, the terms…
James K. Mead has a fine article on 1 Kings 13 from an issue of VT several years ago. He proposes a parallel structure for the whole chapter: Scene 1 (vv. 1-10) matches scene 3 (vv. 20-25); in both there is a calling out, a pronouncement from Yahweh, a sign,…
In an article on 1 Kings 13, Werner Lemke noted a number of parallels with the prophecy of Amos, specifically parallels between the man of God from Judah and Amos himself. 1) Both are from Judah and prophesy at Bethel. 2) Both confront authorites at Bethel. 3) Both predict the…
INTRODUCTION One of the great evils of American Christianity is the idolization of the family. American Christians believe that blood is thicker than baptismal water, and that the family is a redemptive institution. But the primary family for Christians is the “brotherhood” of the church, and Jesus stressed that discipleship…
One sometimes hears references to a “metaphorical imagination,” but biblical imagery often works also by metonymy. It is not only that the tree of, say, Psalm 1 “stands for” strength or stability. It is that, as the Psalm makes clear by emphasizing the fruitfulness or the tree who is a…
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