Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Can it be that it has been two whole years since I contributed a Theopolis Post! I had been pursuing the topic of integration: “Seeking Integration in a Fragmented World.” I had defined “integration,” simply, as creative putting together. I had posed that seeking it calls for a fundamentally integrative…
What is known as the miracle of the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” occurs in Mark’s Gospel in chapter 6. As with other gospel writers, Mark has a few different points to make as he moves through this story (included in all four gospel accounts) and its surrounding material. Three…
To begin with the source of this narrative: Since no human being was present to observe these events, we must assume that this narrative was revealed directly by God to a human author. There are three ways this might have happened. First, we might read, "God said to Abraham (or…
The serious Bible student cannot help but be struck by the deviousness of Jacob in Genesis 27. If one already expected some underhanded dealings from this twin-born-second whose name means “supplanter” and whose bargaining with his brother for the birthright in Genesis 25 seemed incredibly weighted in his own favor,…
From Barna stats to mainstream headlines, it seems as though the discordant nature of this last year has taken such a toll on churches in the United States that, for many, the injuries have been fatal. It has become a regular occurrence to hear about a congregation that continues to…
In The Bad News Bears (1976), a city councilman hires a washed-up minor league baseball player with a drinking problem to coach a little league team of leftover misfits. Underdog sports movies are usually full of sentimentalism and dramatic victories, but this film is a commentary on the failing dream…
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Robert Brunstein, the TNR drama critic, offers this comment on Tom Stoppard: “Like Shaw, Stoppard has always been an omnivorous reader and has never been reluctant to share his scholarship with his audiences. If I still can’t get as excited about his playwriting as my fellow critics (and my Harvard…
Writing in the June 2004 issue of Commentary , George Weigel examines the European conflict between the “Cathedral and the Cube.” The cube in question is La Grande Arche in Paris, which houses the International Foundation for Human Rights; the cathedral is Notre Dame, visible from the rooftop terrace of…
The ubiquitous Victor Davis Hanson questions the conventional wisdom that the US needs to send more troops into Iraq to establish order and peace. He draws on a number of historical examples to show that it is perfectly possible to subdue and control with a comparatively small force: “Alexander the…
There’s something very appealing about the controlled chaos of many liturgical worship services. There are always a dozen things going on, lots of movement, lots of energy. In many respects, there is more freedom in a liturgical service than in many apparently freer liturgical traditions. In many Protestant services, the…
Weddings are beautiful; few events are more so: The silken cascade of the bride’s dress, the sanctuary warm with candlelight, the austere elegance of a black tuxedo, the dignified choreography of procession and recession, the indescribable transcendence of Jupiter straining to burst the space of the sanctuary. Weddings are beautiful,…
Trinity Sunday appears to stand out as an oddity in the church calendar. Israel’s calendar was filled with commemorations of events in Israel’s history, and the Christian calendar is predominantly about the events of the incarnation. And then comes Trinity Sunday and Trinity season, devoted to a “doctrine” rather than…
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