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

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Epistemology

A Cheer for the Mystics

Mystical theologians are often unguarded, extreme, un-nuanced, pressing to the edges of heresy, sometimes beyond. Still, the mystics are worthy of study. Why? Many reasons. Unlike some late medieval and post-Reformation dogmaticians, mystical theologians are often instinctively and richly Trinitarian. Historical-critical approaches to Scripture left mystical theologians virtually untouched; mystics…

by Peter LeithartSeptember 2, 2013
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Literature

Shadow and Substance in Shakespeare's Venice

Portia of Belmont is a “lady richly left,” as Bassanio says of her in the first Act of The Merchant of Venice . Plus, she’s beautiful and wise. Suitors clamber to Belmont in hope. Her father knew it would be so, and in his will set up a fairy-tale test…

by Peter LeithartAugust 28, 2013
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Liturgy

Liturgy Traps

[fve]http://vimeo.com/72195198[/fve]

by James B. JordanAugust 26, 2013
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Deuteronomy

Victory Food

In the nature of the case, “the” Christian meditation on Deuteronomy 14:1-21 cannot be written. Meditation offers too many possibilities, opens too many doors. There is not one and only one correct set of associations for a Christian to consider when thinking of Deuteronomy 14:1-21. We could, for example, consider…

by Ralph Allan SmithAugust 21, 2013
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Romans

David's Sin and Israel's Salvation, Part I

Having retold the story of the cumulative sin of Israel leading to the great atonement on the cross, Paul then reemphasizes that, just as both Jew and Gentiles were locked into sin and judgment, now they are both justified by faith: Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded.…

by Mark HorneAugust 20, 2013
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Deuteronomy

You are what you eat

Deuteronomy 14 is full of allusions to events of Israel’s history and other portions of Scripture. What would an Israelite learn by mediation on these allusions? The answer, I believe, is at least fourfold. Faith, Worship, War For the ancient Israelite first hearing Moses’ sermon, or perhaps hearing it read…

by Ralph Allan SmithAugust 15, 2013

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Twenty-Something Radical Orthodoxy

A couple of years ago, Kyle Nicholas summed up "The Progress and Future of Radical Orthodoxy ," now entering its early adulthood. Though the movement has waned, he argues for "its continuing relevance." "Amidst scathing critiques from every corner," he points out, "Radical Orthodoxy has continued to bear fruit on…

September 22, 2017
Eucharist

Homily on Grain

In his Material Eucharist (30), David Grumett summarizes the "Homily on the Grain" from the Syrian poet Cyrillonas: "Alluding to the incarnation and to Christ's two natures,. he describes the grain falling into the earth and its kernel encased within a dual outer husk. This echoes the image that Jesus…

September 22, 2017

On the Structure of Leviticus

Leviticus is divided into thirty-seven speeches, each introduced by "Yahweh spoke to Moses" (see Warning, Literary Artistry in Leviticus ). The 19th speech - the central one - is Leviticus 16, instruction for the "day of coverings." From this, one can derive a simple chiastic outline of the book (I've…

September 21, 2017

The Cross of Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, 4

IV. Cross of Reality Christianity’s history is the story of the cross’s penetra­tion into human experience and society. New epochs are formed when the cross begins to mark a new “sphere of our minds or bodies” ( CF , p.165). In the new era that Rosenstock-Huessy saw coming, the cross…

September 21, 2017

Post-Confederate Memorials

Joseph Bottum offers a Girardian analysis of the current craze for knocking down monuments ( Weekly Standard ). Along the way, he explores the origins of the Confederate memorials, observing that "The list of removed statues and memorials seems mostly to prove what busy beavers the United Daughters of the…

September 21, 2017

The Cross of Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, 3

III. The Cross and Civilization Jesus gives abundant life. As the Crucified and Risen Man, he also creates new possibilities for history, forms a new epoch of history, the Christian era, and forms the possibil­ity of a new civilization. To understand fully what Rossen­stock-Huessy means by this, we need to…

September 20, 2017

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