Theopolis Logo

Writing

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

See all
img_1456
Epistemology

Seeking Integration in a Fragmented World: Covenant Epistemology: The Integrative Regard of the Other

Fragmentation characterizes our era. Bits, bytes, chips, data points. Ourselves as reducible to the meaningless. We can feel dehumanized and lost. We seek wholeness, integration. We rightly believe that integration brings meaningfulness, somehow doing better credit to ourselves as humans and to the world. More than that, integration somehow aligns…

by Esther Lightcap MeekJune 5, 2018
hebrew-manuscript-2
Proverbs

The Dramatic Structure of Proverbs

The book of Proverbs appears as a largely random collection of aphorisms drawn from experience saturated in law. Despite its random arrangement, however, the book does have an over-arching structure that reinforces its main themes. One way to gather clues regarding the structure of a biblical book (or any book)…

by Peter LeithartMay 31, 2018
infant-baptism
Baptism

Infant Baptism in the History of the Church

Ancient practice in the Church sets an important precedent for present day practice. This certainly doesn’t mean that Christians are bound to only do things as they have always been done, but the principles of catholicity and unity move us not to break from historic church practice on a particular…

by Timothy LeCroyMay 29, 2018
tower-of-babel
Biblical Studies

Babel Academy, Part 2

For Part 1, click HERE . Genesis 1 describes the creation of the physical order. Genesis 2 recapitulates the pattern of Genesis 1 as it describes the creation of the social order. Genesis 3 describes the intended founding of an ethical order. It was here that sin entered into the…

by Mike BullMay 24, 2018
babelhead
Biblical Studies

Babel Academy, Part 1

The Business of Keeping the Saints in the Dark Let there be light! The first recorded “spoken” words of God. Curiously, even this creative decree was a deed whose fruit required an appraisal. God judged the light and separated it from the darkness. As the cardinal act within a newborn…

by Mike BullMay 22, 2018
markus-winkler-aid-xyrtlec-unsplash
Course Announcement

A Week with Esther Meek - An Introduction to Covenant Epistemology

We are very pleased to announce that Esther Lightcap Meek will be the instructor for our 2018 Trinity Course in August. The course is titled "Loving to Know: Introducing Covenant Epistemology" and will be held August 13-17 at Beeson Divinity School. Esther Meek, Ph.D., is Professor of Philosophy at Geneva…

by TheopolisMay 21, 2018

Showing page 93 of 309

See all
See all

Protestant Radical Orthodoxy

L ambert Zuidervaart's essay on “radical Augustinian social critique” is, of course, mainly about Radical Orthodoxy. He devotes several pages to Graham Ward and John Milbank, highlighting the power of their work but offering some criticisms. He disputes Milbank's notion that the church is a “society,” claiming that this confuses…

November 11, 2016

Giving Modernity Its Due

L amber Zuidervaart thinks that Christian scholars have a “modernity complex” ( Religion, Truth, and Social Transformation , 222). He illustrates with quotations from writers from Groen van Prinsterer to Merold Westphal, and concludes that Christian scholars need “a nuanced sifting of what is intrinsically worthwhile and intrinsically problematic in…

November 11, 2016
American Politics

Strangers in Their Land

N athaniel Rich reviews Arlie Russell Hochschild's Strangers in Their Own Land in the NYRB . Hochschild, a Berkeley sociologist, examined theories about the rise of the Tea Party and Trumpism, but, she writes, “I found one thing missing in them all—a full understanding of emotion in politics. What, I…

November 11, 2016
Infanticide

Infancitide in History

I n a TLS review of James Sharpe's history of violence in England ( A Fiery & Furious People ), David Horspool calls attention to Sharpe's account of infanticide in the 18th and 19th centuries. He claims that it was “an all too common last resort” in an age “when…

November 11, 2016

So Close, So Far

I n a scintillating poem, “Late Apocalypse,” Scott Cairns ( Slow Pilgrim , 214-5), Scott Cairns gives the sharpest, pithiest description of the contradictions of communications technology I've ever read. Cairns is playing off Revelation 1, where John “turned to see the voice.” Again and again the narrator of the…

November 11, 2016

Before the Ark

A fter David installs the ark of the covenant in the tent he prepares for it, he sets up Levites to carry on continuous praise before the Lord’s throne. 1 Chronicles 16:8-36 is a long sample of praise. As commentators point out, the Psalm consists of three Psalms from the…

November 10, 2016

Showing page 233 of 2212

Browse by Category

In Medias Res

Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.

Donate

Theopolis is nearly 100% donor-supported. Consider joining us on our mission.