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Writing

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

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Revelation

Rescuing Revelation: Part II

This is Part II of a 2-part essay. For Part 1, click HERE . Covenant context Most Bible teachers apply the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles directly to Christians today without any thought of the historical – and more importantly, legal – context. The ministry of Christ and the…

by Mike BullOctober 10, 2017
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Revelation

Rescuing Revelation: Part 1

Introduction The book of Revelation polarises Christians. Some become obsessed with ‘cracking its code’ while others throw it into the too hard basket. Thankfully, recent advances in biblical theology enable us to liberate this enigmatic book from both mistreatment and obscurity. The prophecy is attractive to some because of its…

by Mike BullOctober 5, 2017
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Biblical Theology

Abraham's Life as a Type

I'm considering the possibility that the life of Abraham as recounted in Genesis contains a typological prophecy of the history of Israel; that is, that the events in Abraham’s life broadly anticipate events in Israel’s history. This kind of pattern is seen in the case of Moses, for instance, because…

by James B. JordanOctober 3, 2017
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Culture

Teenagers and the Smartphone Beast

According to this recent article in The Atlantic , teenage promiscuity is decreasing. Apparently there is a general "decline in dating" which also "tracks with a decline in sexual activity." The figures are startling: The drop is the sharpest for ninth-graders, among whom the number of sexually active teens has…

by Steve JefferySeptember 28, 2017
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Matthew

Fulfilling the First Commandment

"Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'" - Matthew 22:37 Jesus says that this is the most important commandment: to love God with our heart, soul, and mind. If we obey this command,…

by Lindsey TollefsonSeptember 26, 2017
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Eucharist

Strange and Glorious New Rites

At the last supper, Jesus took bread and, having given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples while saying, "Take, eat, this is My body given for you. Do this for My memorial." What Jesus did was recognized by the disciples, because it took place every morning…

by James B. JordanSeptember 21, 2017

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Losing the Body

The Economist's review of Thomas Lacqueur's The Work of the Dead highlights the shifts in our funeral customs over the past few centuries: “A large part of the book is devoted to the slow transition from churchyards to cemeteries, a story of changing sensibilities, epitomised by the gradual replacement of…

December 4, 2015

Cultural Geography

In his forthcoming collection of essays, The Ways of the World , David Harvey observes that “it is impossible on the ground and in the streets to see where nature ends and culture begins. imposing a dichotomy where there is none is a fatal mistake.” Geography is his great illustration…

December 4, 2015

Hamlet Among Protestants and Catholics

Most readers and viewers of Hamlet take Hamlet’s most famous soliloquy as a meditation on suicide. In Hamlet, Protestantism, and the Mourning of Contingency , John E. Curran, Associate Professor of English at Marquette University, argues there are bigger things at work. Hamlet is opposing two ontologies, religious universes, moralities.…

December 3, 2015

Rhetoric: Ancient, Modern, Postmodern

Rhetoric is an ancient art. It was one of the main courses of study in ancient schools, along with grammar and logic. During the days of the Roman Empire, learning rhetoric was a path to power and prestige. Augustine, the great church father of North Africa, was trained as a…

December 3, 2015

Jerusalem, Sennacherib, and Us

The story of Jerusalem's deliverance from Sennacherib's Assyrian army, told in both 2 Kings and Isaiah, is an exciting account. It's a story worthy of Byron’s galloping verse, his medieval ballad. But still: So what? What does all this ancient history have to do with me, with my problems, with…

December 3, 2015

Would you sacrifice yourself for Iraq?

Why do we talk about patriotism in religious terms? asks Ivan Strenski (in a Library of Social Science essay): “For a student of religion what strikes one as odd is that we name the act of giving up one’s life for the sake of one’s nation, as a ‘sacrifice.' Why…

December 2, 2015

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