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

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Biblical Studies

Esther and Ruth, Grain and Fruit

1 Introduction ESTHER and RUTH are similar stories. Each details the changing fortunes of a young woman. Each begins with the protagonist in a destitute situation. The fortunes of each reverses by story’s end. Intriguing parallels exist: Scenes : The stories transition through a similar set of scenes, see Table…

by Scott FairbanksApril 29, 2021
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Biblical Studies

A Hermeneutic of Riddles

Maybe this is not the best venue to reveal that I sometimes wonder about all that deep exegesis: the chiasms, the numerology, vowel modifications, the typological labyrinthes, the innumerable exodus patterns that are so often limned by Peter Leithart or James Jordan or Alastair Roberts. Maybe it’s because I am…

by John AhernApril 27, 2021
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Culture

Building New Watchtowers

In 1923, J. Gresham Machen wrote the book he is perhaps most remembered for, “Christianity and Liberalism”. Machen wrote it to help map out the cultural currents that were impacting the church with the hope that the church could be vigilant against the dangers theological liberalism posed to historic Christianity.…

by Steve GreggApril 22, 2021
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Matthew

THE ANNUNCIATION TO JOSEPH | (Matthew 1:18-25)

March 25, nine months before Christmas, is the date that is often associated with the Annunciation to Mary, Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that, by the coming of the Spirit upon her, she would conceive and bear the heir to David’s throne, whose kingdom would have no end. The story is…

by John BarachApril 20, 2021
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Book Review

Book Review: Race and Covenant: Recovering the Religious Roots for American Reconciliation

Race and Covenant: Recovering the Religious Roots for American Reconciliation , edited by Gerald R. McDermott (Grand Rapids, MI: Acton Institute), 278 pp. A group of notable thinkers gathered to discuss biblical resources for addressing racial conflict in America in February 2019 at Samford University in Birmingham. Race and Covenant…

by Ben PetersonApril 15, 2021
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Matthew

Full Preterism’s Fatal Fractal Fracture

“Covenant Creationism,” which might be the most consistent brand of full preterism, is merely dispensationalism turned inside-out. The main cause of disputes over the interpretation of the Scriptures is the practice of interpreting texts in isolation. This applies not only to interpreting a passage without reference to other passages, but…

by Mike BullApril 13, 2021

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Wilderness Retreat

Many scholars have pointed to the fact that the tabernacle is an architectural representation of Mount Sinai. The tabernacle is divided into three zones - court, holy place, most holy place - with different degrees of access; Sinai was organized the same way. The altar of ascensions in the courtyard…

September 8, 2015

Is Kim Davis Breaking the Law?

From both left and right, critics of Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis have criticized her as a law-breaker. Supporters of same-sex marriage say that her religious scruples don't give her the right to pick and choose what responsibilities she'll fulfill. Critics from the right have said her stance is a…

September 5, 2015

The Un-Ideal Community

In Life Together , Bonhoeffer explains that “Christian community is not an ideal, but a divine reality” (quoted in Paul House, Bonhoeffer's Seminary Vision , 109). That is not merely a theoretical distinction. In Bonhoeffer's opinion, “On innumerable occasions a whole Christian community has been shattered because it has lived…

September 4, 2015

Brides

At the beginning of Exodus, Pharaoh is spooked by Israel's teeming growth. To keep them in check, he instructs the midwives to kill all Hebrew boys and spare the girls (Exodus 1:16). The girls will presumably be raised as Egyptians, become Egyptian wives and mothers, and Israel will be neutralized…

September 4, 2015

Scripture Is Not Tradition

Lesslie Newbigin ( Reunion of the Church , 129-131) explains that the Church of South India (CSI) statement regarding Scripture “excludes the possibility of treating the Scriptures merely as the earliest expression of the continuous faith of the Church, and treats the faith of the Church as a response, continuously…

September 4, 2015

Inequality Trap

In a forthcoming book on The Inequality Trap , William Watson argues that the contemporary obsession with inequality is both an error and a trap. An error because “inequality, unlike poverty, is not the problem it is so widely presumed to be. Inequality can be good, it can be bad,…

September 4, 2015

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