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Writing

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

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City

The City of Cain

Not long ago, I heard these statistics about New York City: New York City is in $100 billion in debt. 20% of all NYC residents are on food stamps, which cost $250 million a month. 5% of NYC population are on disability, costing $252 million a month. Other assistance costs…

by Richard BledsoeJune 25, 2020
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Empire

Twenty-Five Theses on Empire

1. All political power is ambivalent. Vertical violence of “the state” tends to limit horizontal and contested power between people and between tribes. “The State” brings new oppression, but also a measure of new peace and unity. 2. All political formations are ambiguous like this: a strong family conquers weaker…

by John MilbankJune 23, 2020
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Coronavirus

Virtual Gnosticism and the Church – some disturbing thoughts about Covid19

Gnosticism by any other name would smell the same. But does the church have much of a theological sense of smell, these days, when it comes to the seductions of virtuality in our worshipping communities? Social isolation during a global pandemic makes good public health sense, but whether church should…

by Paul TysonJune 16, 2020
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American Culture

The Priorities of Priests and Protests

It is a remarkable thing, you know, this thing called priority. Just a few weeks ago, religious leaders were boldly asserting in their high-dollar online videos that it was too dangerous to return to worship and that we needed to listen to our political and health leaders. "They are the…

by Uri BritoJune 15, 2020
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James

Anger, Riots, Violence, & Justice: How the Epistle of James Came to be Written

Somewhere in the city of Jerusalem on a rooftop just a few years after the ascension of Jesus and the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost. . . ". . . and just when are you guys going to live up to your ‘Sons of Thunder’ reputation? Huh? A lot…

by Jeff MeyersJune 9, 2020
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Proverbs

Lady Wisdom Eve

In my book, Solomon Says: Directives for Young Men ( Amazon , Kindle ) I mention that Solomon portrays wisdom as a woman. But I don’t ask (or answer!) why he did so. Solomon uses the figure of Lady Wisdom without apology or explanation: Wisdom cries aloud in the street,…

by Mark HorneJune 2, 2020

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History

America’s Military

Larry Schweikart, America’s Victories: Why the U. S. Wins Wars and Will Win the War on Terror . New York: Sentinel, 2006. 324 pp. Many Americans regard the military as a world apart, a strange world of rank and ritual, tradition and respect, everything that the rest of America is…

August 11, 2006
History

America’s Military

Larry Schweikart, America’s Victories: Why the U. S. Wins Wars and Will Win the War on Terror . New York: Sentinel, 2006. 324 pp. Many Americans regard the military as a world apart, a strange world of rank and ritual, tradition and respect, everything that the rest of America is…

August 11, 2006

Good news for NTT

Kavin Rowe reviews a number of texts in New Testament Theology (NTT) in JBL (125:6), and finds that “recent work in NTT has reached the point of consensus on the importance of the OT for NTT: readings of the NT that downplay or even erase the fundamental historical and theological…

August 10, 2006

Lamentations in Matthew

David Moffitt argues in the current issue of JBL (125:2) that “Matthew alludes to Lamentations three times in chs. 23 and 28 of his Gospel (23:35; 27:34; and 27:39). The fact that these allusions come from chs. 2, 3, and 4 of Lamentations, that the allusion to Lam 4:13 resonates…

August 10, 2006
History

Machiavelli on honor

Machiavelli know what he was about. Though continuing to identify himself with Christianity, he advocated a revival of ancient concepts of virtu , and recognized that one key obstacle was the Christian revaluation of the value of honor. In the midst of numerous distortions of faith and history, he clearly…

August 9, 2006
Literature

Motivated malignancy

In his recent book, Honor: A History , James Bowman suggests that Iago was motivated by concerns of honor. He elevates “good name” above riches, and his stated motive for hating Othello is his suspicion that the Moor slept with his wife is consistent with traditional honor codes: “Iago’s appeal…

August 9, 2006

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