Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Place names become fraught with meaning by association with people and events. The name “Wittenberg” calls to mind Luther and the Reformation for Protestants and Catholics alike. Geneva has a wider range of associations, but the Reformation Wall, with its four main statues of William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza,…
“…a mystery without a solution, a horror story without savagery, a nightmare in which all the watches stop at noonday…” The Bestial Gardens of Men Then they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” (Luke 23:30) The following lines by Edgar Allan Poe,…
2 Samuel 11-12, which record David’s sin with Bathsheba and its aftermath, is structured chiastically: This arrangement highlights several things about the episode. It reinforces what is obvious from even a casual reading, that the transition in the story occurs with Nathan’s confrontation of David’s sin and David’s confession. Up…
Medieval bestiaries are packed with quaintly inaccurate information about animals, birds, and other created things. Foxes and snakes are devilish critters; stags, pelicans and elephants are Christlike in their various ways. Of course, the medievals picked this up from the Bible, where bestiary observations are fairly common. “Go to the…
What do Reformational Catholicism and craft beer have in common? The question seems to beg for a punchline. Better yet, it would be pretty good clickbait for an article on Katharina von Bora’s “spirited” contribution that helped spark the Protestant Reformation. Well, this is no joke and I am certainly…
Suffering Defined Suffering happens. We witness it all around us and experience it in our lives. It often comes from forces beyond our control. Suffering is inscrutable; it strikes unexpectedly, on a bright summer day or a cold winter night. We lament and are bewildered by suffering. But we are…
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When he finished his Pentecost sermon, Peter urged the Jews how to respond to his message: “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ,” he said, “for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Peter says that…
ECUSA has recently released its response to the Windsor Report’s invitation to explain “from within the sources of authority that we as Anglicans have received in scripture, the apostolic tradition and reasoned reflection, how a person living in a same gender union may be considered eligible to lead the flock…
This is out of order from the other posts on Hart. David Hart, Beauty of the Infinite Part 2, section 1: Trinity Thesis 2: Different and distance in Christian understanding are understood in Trinitarian terms. In this light, peace is the true form of difference, and beauty is the true…
Troubled parishioner: I know that God is utterly reliable. He always keeps his promises. I just don’t know if the promises are for me. Pastor: But you hear the absolution every week, right? TP: Sure, but how do I know that God is talking to me? Pastor: You hear the…
Troubled parishioner: I know that God is utterly reliable. He always keeps his promises. I just don’t know if the promises are for me. Pastor: But you hear the absolution every week, right? TP: Sure, but how do I know that God is talking to me? Pastor: You hear the…
A few notes on Thomas on the sacraments, aided by Frederick Bauerschmidt’s excellent notes (in Holy Teaching , recently published by Brazos Press). 1) Bauerschmidt points out that Aquinas is bucking a trend in medieval theology by placing sacraments under the genus of “sign” rather than under the genus of…
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