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Writing

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

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Culture

Consumerism, Oikos, and the Role of Women in the Church

Part 1 We do not understand the role of women in ministry because we do not understand the role of men in ministry. We do not understand the role of men in ministry because we do not understand the church. We do not understand the church because the consumer culture…

by John CarpenterJuly 11, 2023
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Biblical Theology

Genesis’ Beginning Story

1. One structure The Creation account (G1:1-2:4) conspicuously conveys meaning using the literary shape of the text. The narrative is told with formulaic patterns, repetitions, and parallelism. The Garden account is different. It is viewed as a separate text, with its own author, employing its own structure. This second account’s…

by Scott FairbanksJune 28, 2023
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Baptism

Crystalline Baptism

I was reading James Jordan’s Creation in Six Days while also preparing for Trinity Sunday in which the gospel reading is John 3:1-15. As providence would have it Jordan dropped an easter egg for me along the lines of baptism. In chapter 5 he points out, “ On the second…

by Matthew CoreyJune 20, 2023
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Baptism

Christians Should Baptize Their Children, but Not Because of Circumcision

It's true. There is no verse in the New Testament that commands or records an infant baptism. This poses a problem for some Christians. Those who only look for explicit commands, or those whose theology is limited to the New Testament, will conclude that infant baptism is not biblical and…

by Adam McIntoshJune 13, 2023
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Biblical Studies

Polarities

1. Goal This paper’s goal is to identify and describe a literary strategy employed by scripture, namely using two episodes that cover similar territory or themes using details drawn from opposite ends of a number of spectrums. Once described the reader may recognize numerous other instances of this strategy in…

by Scott FairbanksJune 7, 2023
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Deuteronomy

Kind Capital Punishment

Numbers 14 records the tragic story of Israel’s decision to rebel against Yahweh and Moses. Twelve spies had been sent into the land to bring back a report to Israel. All twelve spies agreed: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey”…

by Ralph Allan SmithMay 31, 2023

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Science

The Sense of Being Stared At

Rupert Sheldrake’s latest book, The Sense of Being Stared At , is full of amusing and entertaining oddities, as Sheldrake continues his assault on reductionistic modern science. At the outset of a treatment of “paranormal” phenomena, Sheldrake points out that such things as telepathy are “para-normal” only if we have…

December 7, 2003

Incarnation and God’s Lordship

The incarnation is no contradiction of God’s transcendence or sovereignty. Never think of Christmas, the incarnation, in any way as a qualification of God’s sovereignty, His Lordship. We shouldn’t say: Yes, God is sovereign Lord, who does as He pleases; but He is ALSO, in ADDITION, the God who has…

December 7, 2003

Incarnation and God’s Lordship

The incarnation is no contradiction of God’s transcendence or sovereignty. Never think of Christmas, the incarnation, in any way as a qualification of God’s sovereignty, His Lordship. We shouldn’t say: Yes, God is sovereign Lord, who does as He pleases; but He is ALSO, in ADDITION, the God who has…

December 7, 2003

Eucharistic Meditation, December 7

Eucharistic Meditation for Second Sunday in Advent: Luke 22:20 Martin Luther said that the Supper is the gospel. That’s true in a lot of different ways, but one way that it is true is that in the Supper we see and experience the reality of “God for us.” That’s what…

December 7, 2003

Exhortation, December 7

Exhortation for December 7: Christmas is a few weeks away, and that means food, lots of food, lots of rich food. It means candy and candy canes and nuts and chocolate and more chocolate, always chocolate. It means parties and feasts, and then more parties and feasts. It means drinking…

December 7, 2003

Advent and Election

Picking up on thoughts on Romans 2, some additional reflections on Advent, and reading further in Church Dogmatics 2.2: Here is the gospel of election, of the decree, that Jesus Christ was, from all eternity, elected and chosen as the true Israel of God, to ensure that God’s name would…

December 7, 2003

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