Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In the first post of this series, I proposed that the sacraments of baptism and communion are the nexus point for the evangelical and ecumenical movements. In the following post , I proposed a new orientation for ecumenism – a conciliarity of the cross – with the necessary confession of…
“Contextualization” is now, and has been for a long time, the buzzword for the day. 1 Missionary effort in non-Western countries is all about “contextualization” — making our communication of the Gospel, if not the Gospel itself, fit into the culture to whom we from the West speak. 2 There…
In my previous post , I highlighted the sacraments as the point of convergence between evangelicalism and ecumenism arguing that baptism and communion are presented in the New Testament as signs of the gospel that simultaneously enact and remember union with Christ and the unity of Christ’s body. I concluded…
Click HERE for Part I of this series. What does baptism have to do with culture? As I said in the previous essay, the short answer is “everything!” To begin with, baptism is baptism into Jesus’ death (Romans 6:3). Paul explains this as the crucifixion of the “old man” (“old…
In the accounts of our Lord’s nativity and early childhood, so familiar to us from many years of Advent and Christmas services, we often fail to recognize in them the gentle intimations of a greater nativity that is yet to come. The attentive ear, however, can discover in these passages…
Isaiah warns that Yahweh is coming to remove Judah’s leaders in every area of social, economic and political life so completely that there will be no one left to lead besides children (3:4) and women (v. 12). As Isaiah goes on, however, it becomes clear that the women of Judah…
Showing page 101 of 309
Showing page 43 of 43
In her contribution to The Apocalypse in English Renaissance Thought and Literature , Florence Sandler suggests that “Spenser presents to the Elizabethan reader a moral allegory with an Erasmian cast,” a “poem modelled on the Apocalypse” (150). The whole first book of the Fairie Queene , she suggests, can be…
God is a God of speech. Robert Jenson has said we worship a talkative God, The first thing we learn about God is that He creates by speaking. John 1 deepens our understanding of that by telling us that God not only speaks, but that speech is one of His…
Over at The Spectator , James Mumford offers a hard-hitting analysis of the response to the recent Anglican summit. Mumford doesn't analyze the summit itself, but the blustering response from politicians and the press: “On Thursday the Labour shadow cabinet minister and former Anglican priest, Chris Bryant, declared he had…
Catherine Keller argues ( God and Power ) that apocalyptic vision turned “a local, territorializing Israelite faith” into a global one. Apocalyptic “formed first as a response to the imperial aggression of Babylon, which had traumatically deterritorialized Israel; then the Babylon of Isaianic apocalyptic became code for Rome.” In Christian…
“For three transgressions of Damascus and for four. . . . for three transgressions of Gaza and for four. . . . For three transgressions of Tyre and for four. . . . For three transgressions of Edom and for four.” That is how Amos opens his prophecy: A series…
Biblical scholars commonly criticize other biblical scholars for being inconsistent in their handling of literal and figurative language. If one bit of a text is literal, it is assumed, the whole must be; and vice versa. This demand for consistency is mistaken, and can only lead to absurdities. Take the…
Showing page 330 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
