Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Our creeds, taking cues from Matthew 28:18-20 and other biblical texts, speak of the order of the Trinity as “Father, Son, Spirit.” This order is evident in the order of redemption as well: the Father sends the Son, who ascends to heaven to receive and send the Spirit. Luke 1,…
The category of “relation” has long been central to Trinitarian theology, [1] but in recent theology it has become a transcendental, as many theologians have argued that relationality is the leading feature not only of divine life but of created life. [2] Human beings made in the image of the…
Listen to Trinity House President Peter Leithart discuss his article on the End of Protestantism with LCMS pastor Todd Wilken at Issues, Etc .
One of the keys to understanding the parable of the wheat and tares (Matthew 13) is to understand the time frame. Jesus is speaking in pictures and symbols about some period of history, but which? What’s the beginning, and what’s the end of the parable? Is Jesus talking about what…
Shakespeare wrote two tetrologies of English history, patriotically celebrating the Tudor monarchy by recounting its chaotic prehistory. Read in chronological order, Shakespeare’s English histories trace the depressing collapse of medieval politics, from the ineffectual but dignified medieval kingdom of Richard II, through the usurpation of Henry Bolingbroke, later Henry IV,…
The Heart of Liturgy What we call sacrament, the food-aspect of worship, is essential here. Biblically, sanctuary worship, or worship in the heavenlies, is always a “marriage supper,” always sacramental. The Papal Church made the Eucharist into a private act largely separated from the community of the church. Protestant churches…
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The Lord’s Supper models a proper meal, but for that very reason it models a properly ordered community, the right order of human society. How we eat together, with whom we eat tells us what kind of community we are. It also presents a model of work, creativity, culture, the…
In a 1972 essay on Les stars , Edgar Morin explains the difference between actors and stars by referring to ancient heroic myths. Stars are heroes of adventure, action, tragedy, and love like the heroes of myths. They are “divinisee et mythique” (39). The star's mythical, quasi-divine status applies both…
In a paper on Academia.edu, Alan Darley of the University of Nottingham examines Thomas's revision of the Pseudo-Dionysian notion of hierarchy, stressing the importance of Scripture in Thomas's revisionary efforts. Along the way, following a number of recent scholars, he highlights the central role of Scripture in the Summa .…
Stephen Greenblatt uses the anthropological theory of Alfred Gell to explain Shakespeare's universal appeal, particularly Gell's notion of the “distributed personality”: This refers to “the ability of an artist to fashion something - Gell called it an ‘index' - that carries agency, his own and that of others, into the…
In an essay in the 1978 collection, Perspectives on Luke-Acts , Donald Miesner explains the chiastic structure of Paul's missionary journey: A. Jerusalem to Antioch, Cyprus, Asia Minor, 12:25-13:14a B. Paul's initial address to Jews at Antioch, 13:14b-52 C. Paul is persecuted at Iconium, gives speech at Lystra, 14:1-28 D.…
The liturgy provides a rich and holistic model of evangelism and discipleship, holding together dimensions of Christian living that often fly apart. The liturgy begins with a call to enter the presence of God; just so, our entry into Christ is not a product of our diligent efforts but the…
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