Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
This essay is adapted from my articles in Theopolis’s In Medias Res as a series of Holy Week meditations. Like many celebrities such as Kanye or Beyoncé or Adele, Josquin des Prez (d. 1521) was often known only by his first name, in his own time as now. “Josquin” is…
Sight is a major theme in the scriptures. The church has long identified sight’s relationship to the future fulfillment of the eschaton. As Paul says, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1 Cor 13.12). Sight is associated with…
What is the chief end of man? —yes, to glorify God and enjoy him forever. But how ought man–and all creation–so glorify him? I propose a Theopolitan addition to the catechism, question and answer number 1.5, begun in the last question and answered as follows: Earth’s inhabitants were created to…
Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. Genesis 49:21 Frederick Buechner once said, “We move into the extraordinary by way of the ordinary.” In poetry, this happens by way of a compressed code of analogs; often, two or more very ordinary things begin to reveal something that…
The evangelical milieu of America has often lost a vision of the fruit of repentance. We tend to simplify repentance by asking for forgiveness. After all, Jesus tells Peter to forgive 70 times 7. This verse must be paired with Paul’s scoffing at the question: why not sin more so…
I. The hemorrhaging woman. En route to Jairus’ house, Jesus is touched by a woman with a hemorrhage of blood (Matt 9:18–26; Mk 5:21–34; Lk 8:40–48). The story is one that many of us know very well. She has been yoked to her illness for twelve years, all of her…
Showing page 7 of 309
Showing page 43 of 43
It is sometimes argued that the Christological formula of essence and person determines the way to understand person and essence in Trinitarian theology. The incarnate Son is a single person, the Person of the divine Son. But this Person exists in two natures. The church rejected monophysite Christologies; Jesus has…
In his forthcoming Democracy: A Life, Paul Cartledge summarizes Aristotle's discussion of democracy in the Politics and the disputed Constitution of Athens . According to Cartledge, Aristotle “deconstructs or decomposes demokratia as such, that genus of ‘constitution’ as it were, into four sub-species, ranging along a spectrum from the most…
1 Chronicles 2 gives a family tree for Judah. The following chapter focuses in on the royal family of David. The overall structure is chiastic: A. Sons born in Hebron. B. List of six sons born in Hebron, with mothers. C. He reigned in Hebron for seven years and six…
According to Rowan Williams ( Arius ), the central concern is with the freedom of God's will. Arius insists that God is self-subsistent, and because he is immaterial he is “without any kind of plurality or composition.” If the Son is eternally with God, then there is something beside God…
In his book on Worship Wars in Early Lutheranism , Joseph Herl argues that, though Luther advocated congregational singing, the Lutheran liturgy remained a largely choral liturgy for the first generations after the Reformation. Along the way to making his case, he dispels some myths about the medieval mass. Contrary…
Alan Jacobs takes issue with Corey Robin's essay on “ How Intellectuals Create a Public ,” where he argues that public intellectuals shouldn't write for readers who already exist but “summon” a new public into being. Jacobs says that Robin writes a lot about summoning, which, Jacobs says, has two…
Showing page 310 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
