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

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Anthropology

What Irenaeus’ Christology Teaches Us about the Goodness of our Bodies

The Christian tradition has always had an uneasy relationship with the materiality of creation. Dirt, liquid, sex, blood, and bodies—the world and the flesh stand in company with the Devil as two of the three great enemies of the saints. Mundus, caro, et diabolus , as the old Latin saying…

by Gerald HiestandSeptember 13, 2018
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Biblical Studies

The Second Death in Liturgy and History

Since the destruction of Jerusalem was an event of earth-shattering covenantal significance, what might be the meaning of the subsequent tragic events at the desert fortress of Masada? In Hebrew, the name Masada means “strong foundation or support,” from a root meaning “to hunt, lie in wait for prey.” Located…

by Mike BullSeptember 11, 2018
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How to Worship

Cross My Heart

Take a long look at the photo above. To whom is this woman praying? It is hard to tell, isn’t it? Suppose we watch her for a while. We may see her bow low to the floor. Her lips may move, though perhaps it is too low for us to…

by Christopher KouSeptember 6, 2018
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Biblical Theology

The Problem of Psalm 137

Psalm 137 is widely regarded as one of the meanest of the imprecatory psalms. Certainly as we read it it is seems to be a song of pure vengeance. The exiles in Babylon, in grief over the judgment that Babylon has brought upon them, pray for the destruction of that…

by James B. JordanSeptember 4, 2018
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Course Recap

A Week with Esther Meek: Course Recap

Forty men and women came from all over the United States to attend the 2018 Trinity Term course at Theopolis. Pastors, students, teachers, an electrician, a city planner, and others from a variety of denominations spent five days at Beeson Divinity School studying covenant epistemology under the tutelage of philosopher…

by TheopolisAugust 31, 2018
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Matthew

Galilee of the Gentiles

Matthew records that Jesus "withdrew" to Galilee to begin His public ministry there after He "heard that John had been delivered up" (Mt. 4:12). Matthew’s typically matter-of-fact style veils the truly remarkable character of Jesus’ withdrawal. Matthew has been presenting Jesus as the Messiah, the Seed of Abraham and Son…

by Peter LeithartAugust 31, 2018

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God of Metaphysics?

Toward the end of a chapter on divine simplicity in his Engaging the Doctrine of Creation , Matthew Levering favorably quotes the following what Oliva Blanchette: "Metaphysics,more than anything else in philosophy, has to do with the question of transcendence, especially the kind of transcendence that is presupposed in properly…

February 16, 2018

Zombie Movies

The topic here isn’t movies about zombies. It’s the use of dead actors in movies. Alexi Sargeant explains why digital resurrection is so creepy, using Peter Cushing’s reprise of the role of Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One as the key example. Sargeant isn’t put off by the use of…

February 15, 2018

Spirit of Segregation

The Azusa Street Revival that launched the Pentecostal movement was accompanied by a burst of racial reconciliation. An Anglican visitors marveled: "It was something very extraordinary, that white pastors from the South were eagerly prepared to go to Los Angeles to the Negroes, to have fellowship with them and to…

February 15, 2018
Lent

Time for Hunger

After His baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness to fast and to be tempted by the devil for forty days and nights. The first temptation concerned food. Jesus was the new Adam, facing a food test not in a garden but in the wilderness. Jesus was the new Israel, hungering…

February 14, 2018
American Politics

Apocalypse Now?

All around us, pundits have turned prophetic; analysts have become purveyors of apocalypse. Trump the beast is on the throne, and the world is falling apart. Rusty Reno thinks that reports of the world's end are greatly exaggerated: "We observe a growing divide between reality and rhetoric. Stock markets rise;…

February 13, 2018

Notes Toward a Pauline Theology of Music

O ne Corinthians 13-14 includes a cluster of musical metaphors. Paul compares the tongue-speaking of the loveless as a “noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (13:1), and insists that tongues need interpretation by noting that you can't know the tune without distinct tones (14:6-8). A few notes on what Paul's…

February 13, 2018

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