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

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John

Jesus, David, Adam: A Reading of John 18:1-11

John 18:1-11 appears on the surface to be a straightforward, if somewhat unusual, narrative of Jesus’ arrest by officers of the chief priests and Pharisees accompanied by an apparently large group of Roman soldiers, all of them led by the betrayer, Judas. But there is much more here than what…

by Ralph Allan SmithJuly 3, 2013
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American Politics

Not So Special

Why is the US embroiled in the Middle East? There are two primary answers: Oil and Israel. Both are fairly intractable problems, the latter in significant part because of the unique convergence of theology and politics that has forged American policy in the region. Dispensationalists insist that we must bless…

by Peter LeithartJuly 1, 2013
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Hermeneutics

Raven of the Gospel

There’s a common theme that arises in the study of theologians James B. Jordan and Peter Leithart. It is this: Context matters. Details matter. This is God’s Word. The details are not arbitrary “filler” hiding the kernel of truth in the husk of the text. The husk and the kernel…

by Troy GreeneJune 26, 2013
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Anxiety

Marriage and Betrayal

Perhaps the most fearful of all possibilities in the world is the possibility of betrayal on the part of someone who is in a “position of trust.” This, unfortunately, is the first block in what ought to be the foundation of every marriage in the world. Every woman has a…

by Richard BledsoeJune 24, 2013
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Theopolis News

One More Week

Only one more week to register to the Trinity Term class on "How to Read the Bible," taught by James Jordan and Peter Leithart. Sign up today!

by Peter LeithartJune 24, 2013
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Homosexuality

Reorienting our Sex Talk

The way we talk about the world matters. Our doctrine of creation tells us that words do not simply reflect reality. They also shape it and the way we inhabit it. Among the world’s many language groups, the Church is distinct. She is called to name things with Scriptural language,…

by Matthew MasonJune 19, 2013

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Qohelet and the gospel

Provan has this insightful comment: “A central theme of [Jesus’] ministry, enacted in his own life, is that the proper way in which to respond to the nature of reality is to give away one’s life rather than hold on to it, to open our hands and let things go…

January 2, 2006

Qohelet, Modernism and Postmodernism

Despite the problems with his arguments about authorship, Provan ‘s commentary on Ecclesiastes (NIV Application) is quite good. He rightly translates HEBEL as “vapor” or “breath” rather than as “vanity,” and does a good job of showing how deeply that change transforms our reading of the book. The following are…

January 2, 2006

Exhortation, First Sunday After Christmas

God is unchanging. The calendar changes, but Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We have trouble thinking about the same thing for ten minutes, but “the Glory of Israel . . . is not a man that He should change His mind.” Our plans shift rapidly from…

January 1, 2006

Late Modern Vapor

The style industry exists to keep producing new styles, to keep everyone thinking that they have to buy a new wardrobe each year to keep up, to bring shame to everyone uncool enough to wear last season’s colors . A celebrity, someone once said, is a person well known for…

January 1, 2006

Eucharistic meditation, First Sunday After Christmas

Ecclesiastes 2:24-25: There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? Many Christians have concluded…

January 1, 2006

Solomon’s imagination

Iain Provan doubts that Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes . One of the “striking” bits of evidence is “that many of the later passages in Ecclesiastes appear to be written from a non-Solomonic point of view (i.e., from the perspective of the subject rather than the ruler, e.g., 5:8-9; 8:1-9).” It’s a…

December 31, 2005

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