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

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Ascension

On the Ascension of the Lord

Leo the Great's second sermon on the Ascension, Sermon 74 . I. The mystery of our salvation, dearly-beloved, which the Creator of the universe valued at the price of His blood, has now been carried out under conditions of humiliation from the day of His bodily birth to the end…

by TheopolisMay 25, 2017
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Ecclesiology

Church on the Cross

Life, Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy says, is suffering, battle, pain, shock, failure, elation. Human beings are always torn, always riven. Much of human life, individually and col­lectively, is an effort to deal with suffering and death. By being the first Man, Jesus establishes the possibility of a different stance toward suffering and…

by Peter LeithartMay 23, 2017
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Baptism

Baptism Impasse: Baptists vs. Presbyterians (Part 1)

Is Christian baptism given to believers only or to believers and their children? That’s the question that must be answered—but only if you’re Baptist or Presbyterian. That’s how the question is framed between these two denominations in this dispute, and it’s along these lines the debate unfolds as each side…

by Mani MarprelateMay 18, 2017
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Political Theology

Philanthropic God

Again and again the liturgy of St Chrysostom calls God a lover of mankind. He is Philanthropolos Theos (man-loving God), Kurios Philanthropolos (man-loving Lord), Philopsychos (lover of the soul). Philanthropy wasn’t a Christian invention. Roman benefactors gave benefits to subordinates. What was new was the shape of philanthropy, for the…

by Peter LeithartMay 16, 2017
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Marriage

Marriage and Betrayal

Perhaps the most fearful of all possibilities in the world is the possibility of betrayal on the part of someone who is in a “position of trust.” This, unfortunately, is the first block in what ought to be the foundation of every marriage in the world. Every woman has a…

by Richard BledsoeMay 11, 2017
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City

Church in the Metropolis

It seems that denominationalism has had its day. A 2009 Barna survey found that denominational commitments have gone squishy in mainline Protestant churches, and Evangelicals don’t fare much better than the rest. After a similar survey, Ron Sellers of Ellison Research said that Protestants are as “loyal to their denominations…

by Peter LeithartMay 9, 2017

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Eucharistic meditation, Fifth Sunday of Easter

2 Kings 20:7: The Isaiah said, Take a cake of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. Hezekiah is on his deathbed, and it’s something of a surprise that he is suffering from nothing more serious than a boil. And then we’re surprised again…

May 14, 2006

Exhortation, Commissioning

John 12:24: Jesus said, Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. We are not ordaining you today. We are not laying hands on you. But we are…

May 14, 2006

Exhortation, Fifth Sunday of Easter

Easter is about hope, not only hope for the future, but hope realized in the present. The Lord promised that Abraham’s seed would be like the stars of heaven. The point was not simply that Abraham’s seed would be numerous, though they are and will be. The point was that…

May 14, 2006
Theology

Mix and Match

A candidate for ministry who holds to a Lutheran view of the real presence and a Calvinist view of double predestination would be welcome in neither Lutheran nor Reformed churches. What does that say about Protestantism? Are the different doctrinal and confessional systems so airtight that this kind of mix-and-match…

May 13, 2006

Road to Wittenberg

Why are liturgical/sacramental Calvinists always accused of heading toward “Rome”? Why is it never said, “He’s on the road to Wittenberg”? To ask the question is to answer it: “Road to Wittenberg” sounds so, well, so Protestant , and hardly serves the rhetorical needs of those who want to scare…

May 13, 2006

Death, Deeper Death, Resurrection

The story of the Bible is the death and resurrection of the Christ, but often there is an important nuance to this story-line. The house of Ahab is not destroyed during the reign of Ahab, but during the reign of his son Jehoram, the best of the Omrides (2 Kings…

May 12, 2006

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