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Colossians

Tychicus and Onesimus

In Colossians 4:7-9, Paul tells the Colossian church that he is sending Tychicus and Onesimus to them. It is clear that they are to deliver the letter Paul has written to the church and that they are also to report to the church the details of Paul’s ministry in chains…

by Ralph Allan SmithJanuary 26, 2023
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Mission

Sustainable Development

On the 11 th of April, 1985, the communist dictator Enver Hoxha breathed his last. It was the beginning of the end of communist Albania. After 40 years of being isolated from almost the entire world, the Albanian people started to see what life really looked like outside their borders.…

by James LeithartJanuary 24, 2023
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Biblical Studies

Sex Drives Building

Karl Ove Knausgaard once reminisced about an author he referred to as “the man with his sweater tucked into his trousers” who, upon entering the room, would declare as if it was his creed, “I write because I am dying.” Knausgaard acknowledges this to be one reason among many why…

by Garrett SoucyJanuary 19, 2023
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Biblical Studies

The World is Charged with the Threeness of God

The Missing “It Was Good” The patterns and repetitions of Genesis 1 are well known: God speaks, it happens, and God sees that it’s good; names are given, and there’s evening and there’s morning: a day. But the patterns of creation, like the patterns throughout Scripture, are marked by variation…

by Josh JensenJanuary 17, 2023
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Biblical Studies

The Day of Christ: Philippians 1:10

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the…

by Ralph Allan SmithJanuary 12, 2023
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Biblical Studies

Arboreal theology: Trees in Colossians

The Bible is a book about trees. We start in Eden with two trees, we end in the New Jerusalem with a single double-trunked tree, and the story hinges around the tree they nailed our Lord to. Seeing the Forest We find trees singled out on day three of creation.…

by Tim SuffieldJanuary 10, 2023

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God and the First Amendment

"The First Amendment’s religious liberty provisions make no sense except on the supposition that God exists - that such a thing as religious truth exists and that the commands of true religious faith are real and superior to the commands of civil society." This is the thesis of a 2013…

August 27, 2018

Literal, Figurative, Fundamentalism

Adam S. Miller begins his editorial introduction to Fleeing the Garden (vii-ix) by observing the confusions that surround the terms "literal" and "figurative" in biblical interpretation: "the word literal often just functions as shorthand for the claim that the text refers to something real. In such cases, the word is…

August 23, 2018

Culture of Death

In her introduction to Ratzinger's Faith , Tracey Rowland contrasts the emphases of John Paul II and those of Benedict XVI with regard to what each called the "culture of death." Though neither is a dualist, John Paul focused more on the destruction of bodies while Benedict called attention to…

August 22, 2018

Become Like Children

One of the students at the recent Theopolis course on covenant epistemology nailed the theme of the week. It was a week-long re-initiation into childhood, led by an authoritative guide in childlikeness, Esther Meek. Covenant epistemology calls us to be childlike in our unfeigned delight in the world, childlike in…

August 21, 2018

Look at the Birds

Look at the birds. Look at the lilies. Jesus meant what He said: Look, actually look. Look in order to address anxiety about food, clothing, shelter, and other necessities of life. When you look at the birds, you realize that God provides food. When you look at the lilies, you…

August 20, 2018
Epistemology

The Adventure of Knowing

Some highlights from this past week's Theopolis course on "covenant epistemology," taught by Esther Meek. 1) Using the journey of the Magi as a paradigm of knowing, Esther described knowledge as a venture or adventure, a pilgrimage toward a gift. That is a lovely description that nicely captures much of…

August 16, 2018

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