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

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Abortion

To Kill or Not to Kill

It seems to be old news, but I was unaware of it until recently. Australian academics argued that mothers should be allowed to terminate the life of a newborn child. [i] Why would they promote such an idea? Because before the child is born it is not always possible to…

by Ralph Allan SmithSeptember 12, 2019
pascal
Philosophy

Is the Betting Rigged in Pascal's Wager?

This is the second of two essays introducing Pascal’s Wager. Click HERE for Part 1. In “The Pop Star and the Mathematician” I gave an overview of the apologetic approach commonly called Pascal’s Wager. In that Wager, 17 th -century French mathematician Blaise Pascal argued that the choice between Christian…

by Alexander WhitakerSeptember 10, 2019
pascal
Philosophy

The Mathematician and the Pop Star: A Pascal's Wager Primer

This is the first of two essays aiming to introduce the reader to Pascal’s Wager. The second will address criticisms of the Wager. In the early 1990s, a perennially popular British pop star was interviewed on British television about his very public evangelical Christian faith. “What if,” the reporter asked…

by Alexander WhitakerSeptember 5, 2019
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Matthew

The Secret of the Middle of Matthew

Matthew 13 is about secrets. In this chapter, Jesus teaches eight parables and tells the disciples that they reveal the secrets of the kingdom (13:11). And much like Samson who both tells riddles and is himself a riddle that the reader must solve, so Jesus not only tells secrets but…

by John HigginsSeptember 3, 2019
david-with-goliaths-head-and-soldiers-crop
Biblical Theology

David, Goliath, and the Body of Moses, (Part 2)

Click HERE for part One. THE TEXT AS TABERNACLE Creation – Initiation – Genesis (1 Samuel 17:1-11) The gathered armies not only remind the reader of Ebal and Gerizim, but also of the very reason that Israel was established (Creation) , set apart from the other nations by the circumcision…

by Mike BullAugust 29, 2019
job
Job

The Man in the Middle

What to do with Job’s Final “Friend,” Elihu Elihu is a strange character, at least in the sense of how and where he appears in the book of Job. Why does he not appear with the other three “friends?” Does his argument differ from any of the first three who…

by Eric RobinsonAugust 27, 2019

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Barth’s Ecclesiology

In an essay on Barth’s sacramental theology (in the Cambridge Companion to Barth ), James J. Buckley summarizes Barth’s early views on ecclesiology in the modern age as follows: “Modern man “‘nationalizes’ the Church and the Church allows this nationalization,’ elevating ‘the idea of the relativity of all confessions to…

November 12, 2003

Barth’s Ecclesiology

In an essay on Barth’s sacramental theology (in the Cambridge Companion to Barth ), James J. Buckley summarizes Barth’s early views on ecclesiology in the modern age as follows: “Modern man “‘nationalizes’ the Church and the Church allows this nationalization,’ elevating ‘the idea of the relativity of all confessions to…

November 12, 2003

Atargatis’s Rites

Thousands of years before David Blane, there was this, reported in a text called “On the Syrian God” purportedly by Lucian, which describes the orgiastic rites of the goddess Atargatis: “Two [phalli] at the entrance of the sanctuary, 1,800-foot-high monsters. One of them is climbed twice a year by a…

November 12, 2003

Atargatis’s Rites

Thousands of years before David Blane, there was this, reported in a text called “On the Syrian God” purportedly by Lucian, which describes the orgiastic rites of the goddess Atargatis: “Two [phalli] at the entrance of the sanctuary, 1,800-foot-high monsters. One of them is climbed twice a year by a…

November 12, 2003

“Justified” in Rom 2:13

“Justified” in Rom 2:13 (the first use in Romans) is clearly contrasted with “perish” and “judged by Law.” The structure of vv 12-13 is poetic parallelism: whoever without law sins without law also perishes whoever in law sins through law will be judged not the hearers of law are just…

November 12, 2003

“Justified” in Rom 2:13

“Justified” in Rom 2:13 (the first use in Romans) is clearly contrasted with “perish” and “judged by Law.” The structure of vv 12-13 is poetic parallelism: whoever without law sins without law also perishes whoever in law sins through law will be judged not the hearers of law are just…

November 12, 2003

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