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

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Astral imagery

The Lady and Her Jewels: An Epiphany Meditation

And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery (Revelation 12:1-2). Then Joshua spoke…

by Richard BledsoeJanuary 6, 2015
extreme-unction
Anointing

Fattening Our Suffering

In his post asking Ought we Anoint the Dying? Peter Leithart makes an excellent and important point about our suffering as members of Christ. However, he only parenthetically mentions that the verb in question in James 5 is not chrio but aleipho . By assuming that these words are interchangeable,…

by Robert MaddoxDecember 30, 2014
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James

Death as Frenemy

We spend a lot of time in the church talking about what it means to live like a Christian. But what does it mean to die like a Christian? If we are to follow Christ in life, what does it mean for us to follow him in death as well?…

by Rich LuskDecember 23, 2014
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Literature

Was Shakespeare A Christian?

How would one go about answering the question posed by my title? That depends on what the question means. Obviously, different definitions of the question would require different approaches to an answer. Right off hand, I can think of at least three possible — though not necessarily mutually exclusive —…

by Ralph Allan SmithDecember 23, 2014
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American Culture

Phobophobia

In recent weeks and months, we have seen events that are not the event. The drama around these events is not the events themselves, but the anxiety about the events, and then even the anxiety about the anxiety about the events. That is the real event. The events in Ferguson,…

by Richard BledsoeDecember 22, 2014
anointing-david
Anointing

Ought We Anoint the Dying?

Anointing the sick, including the dying, is one of the traditional seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. The Reformers denied that the rite qualified as a sacrament. Formally, this was because anointing did not have a direct authorization from Jesus; more theologically, it was not one of the marks that…

by Peter LeithartDecember 18, 2014

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Calendar

Living in Season

Sylvie Vanhoozer’s Art of Living In Season is a beautiful book. Vanhoozer’s meditations on the art of living are organized by the church calendar, and so guide the reader to live in ways appropriate to each season of the year – the “art of living in season” of her title.…

May 14, 2024
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EucharistLord's Supper

We Are God's Hospitality

The true God, the living God, is a hospitable God. He’s eternally hospitable. The life of God is infinitely faithful, infinitely joyful welcome. God is hospitality. God is hospitable because He’s Triune. As we confess every Sunday, we believe in one God who exists in three Persons. The Son isn’t…

March 19, 2024
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LeviticusFood

Table of Demons

Let’s stipulate some translations. The Hebrew sheretz = “swarmer”; remesh = “creeper”; chayyah = “beast.” In the original creation, swarmers are found only in the water (Gen 1:20-21), while creepers are on land (1:24-26). Only after the flood do swarmers swarm on earth (Gen 7:21 is the turning point). There…

March 12, 2024
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Theopolis News

Theopolis Appointment

We're pleased to announce that Jackson Waters has been added to the Theopolis team as interim Executive Editor of the Theopolis blog. Jack is currently a student at Reformed Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., where he also serves as Youth Director at Christ the King Anglican Church (ACNA). A graduate…

September 19, 2023
church-monet
Uncategorized

Cautions About Conversion

Wisdom from my old friend and colleague, Rev. Rich Bledsoe, on conversion . People "meet" Jim Jordan, and have the bracing thrill of escaping the flatness of just living and being in the 21st century. They might take off to the thrilling different world of Eastern Orthodoxy. They experience the…

August 7, 2023
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AbortionAmerican Culture

Love the Little Children

First we slaughtered unborn babies in their mothers' wombs. Then we started killing babies born from "botched" abortions. Or born babies that didn't look quite perfect. Now we're butchering the bodies of children in an insane attempt to turn them into their opposites. And the UN is undermining age of…

April 19, 2023

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