Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
I grew up on the north side of Chicago. My parents were evangelicals and I was raised in the faith. I graduated from a large public high school in which practicing Christians were very few and very far between (though nominal Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox were in abundance), which…
During the recent round table discussion on the future of Protestantism , Peter Leithart advocated a much greater degree of unity in the Church than we presently enjoy. Another participant in the discussion wondered aloud how Leithart's vision would be different from the ministerial associations that presently exist in many…
"But he, wanting to justify himself, said, 'And who is my neighbor?' And Jesus said to him, 'First, your neighbors are the people in your church, then the ones with whom you enjoy greatest doctrinal or ecclesiastical commonality, then those with whom you enjoy less commonality.'" -Said Jesus... never Since…
A number of years ago, I came across something in the Puritan Thomas Goodwin in regard to John 17:22. Goodwin points out that Jesus prays that they (the disciples) might be given the glory of the Father as a means to an end. The end is unity, and the means…
In her prize-winning book, Gilead , Marilynne Robinson uses the pastoral settings of Iowa to challenge ministers to live up to their high callings. One of the most powerful themes in the novel is the pastor’s power to “bless.” The tension in the novel builds as we watch Rev. Ames…
One of the few glaring errors of the Protestant Reformers was the failure to welcome children back to the Lord's Table. Something that seems to go along with this was the exclusion of other kinds of Christians, primarily Roman Catholics, from Holy Communion in Protestant churches. Exclusion of Roman Catholics…
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In his Redeeming the Enlightenment: Christianity and the Liberal Virtues (Radical Traditions) , Bruce Ward examines the paradoxes of the peculiarly modern virtue of tolerance (113-7). If tolerance is understood as forbearance toward what is morally repugnant, it is not morally indifferent or neutral but is morally founded. Endurance of…
Is sex good for movie sales? Not really, and Edward Jay Epstein, The Hollywood Economist (51), says it’s due to Wal-Mart: “In 2007, the six studios took in $17.9 billion from DVD sales, according to the studios’ own internal numbers. Wal-Mart, including its Sam’s Club stores, accounted for nearly one-quarter…
Early in his Meaning in Technology (23), Arnold Pacey points to the connections between music and the development of technology. Some of the leaders in the development of machine industry were organ makers, including James Watt. But the connection between music and technology began much earlier with “the development of…
The first of Pastor Ralph Smith’s studies in Deuteronomy 14 is up at the Trinity House page.
Psalm 104:31 says that Yahweh’s glory endures forever, and then immediately adds, as a parallel, “Yahweh rejoices in His works.” The Psalm as a whole is about Yahweh’s care of His creation, which represents the “manifold” works of God (v. 24). The glory of Yahweh is manifest in the sea…
Psalm 51:11, 17: Take not Your Spirit from me . . . . A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. David commits adultery and murder and abuses his power as king. He knows that when Saul refused to repent, the grieved Spirit abandoned him. Saul’s heart…
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