Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Utopia is often accompanied by such adjectives as impossible, unrealistic, and impractical. In spite of that, it is not so hard to find some renowned people who actually maintain that is a very helpful and practical concept. Zygmunt Bauman ( Socialism: The Active Utopia ) argues that “utopian thinking belongs…
C. S. Lewis was no fan of the cinema. He once described himself as “rather allergic to films” and after attending one he added in a letter to a friend, “Do not worry it shall not become a habit.” But though he was quick to dismiss films, his fruitful discussion…
Noted Catholic patristic scholar, Robert Louis Wilken, delivered the second annual Nevin Lectures at Beeson Divinity School's Hodges Chapel last Friday and Saturday, February 20-21, 2015. Wilken, the Emeritus William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Virginia, traced the influence of the writings…
I confess that I’m surprised by the number of Christians who are surprised by the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey . Many are simply bewildered by the buzz the movie has generated. They shouldn’t be. This is the world we live in. More precisely, this is the country we…
The newer perspective on justification by faith advocated in various studies in Pauline Theology by N.T. Wright and others, is now utterly relevant to our historical situation. Such work cannot be merely avant garde theologizing. In Luther’s day, everyone was “in” as regards the Church and the faith. We were…
Over the centuries, Christians have fasted for many reasons. Sometimes, the reasons have been good. The apostles and their churches fasted and prayed before selecting elders or ordaining missionaries. Christians have fasted in mourning for their sins. They have fasted and prayed to combat demons and to plead with God…
Showing page 159 of 309
Showing page 43 of 43
Some of this repeats notes from last week, but then moves beyond. WHAT ABOUT ISRAEL? The ringing affirmations of chapter 8, that those who are in Christ cannot be lost to Christ leads directly into Paul?s discussion of Israel in chapter 9. He is not beginning a new topic. He…
I am indebted to Peter Roise for the following NT Wrightian comments. In the OT, the name “Baal-zebub” occurs only in 2 Kings 1. But the name reappears as a title for Satan in the gospels, when the leaders of Israel accuse Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebul, the…
What’s with all the up-down talk in 2 Kings 1? The Angel of Yahweh sends Elijah to “ascend to call” the messengers/angels of Ahaziah (v. 3), and Elijah’s message is that Ahaziah will never “come down” from the bed where he “ascended” (v. 3). That oracle, including the “come down”…
I’ve posted a number of times on Cusa in the past, and the following builds on notes and outline that I posted in Febrary 2004. NICHOLAS OF CUSA This is a continuation of the earlier essay on Renaissance and modernity. To keep my assessment of the Renaissance under control, and…
The following is a more extensive version of a post from February 2004, under the same title. INTRODUCTION My thesis is developed over against a widespread conception of the Renaissance as the beginning of the modern world, the beginning of secularism and humanism. I am not an uncritical fan of…
For reasons that I’ll detail in a subsequent post, I’m a considerable fan of Nicholas of Cusa. I was unhappy to come across this from William Cavanaugh: “The origin of the modern concept of religion can be seen clearly in the thought of two fifteenth-century Christian Platonist thinkers, Nicholas of…
Showing page 1978 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
