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

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Biblical Theology

The Creator in Creation, (Part 2)

This is the second of a three-part study of Genesis 1. 1:3-5 – Light In God’s final actions of the first day, that He addresses the problem of darkness. In evaluating God’s giving of light, we should evaluate the order of events of His creative activity on the first day.…

by Andrew BittnerOctober 15, 2013
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Creation

The Creator in Creation, (Part 1)

“In the beginning God created…” With these words, God begins His self-revelation. We first catch God in the act of creation, and in so doing are ourselves caught up into the dramatic exposition of the Divine Life. To witness the Theo-Drama of the Creator is not an entry into the…

by Andrew BittnerOctober 14, 2013
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Exodus

Boiling Kids

In order for Exodus 23:19b (“you shall not boil a kid in his mother’s milk”) to be interpreted properly it must be situated in its biblical context, which necessitates a proper understanding of Exodus 24:1-11. It is the primary contention of this paper that it is only through the lens…

by Jacob SkogenOctober 9, 2013
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Theopolis News

Constantine Conference

Trinity House President Peter Leithart will deliver a paper on "Constantine the Pious" this week at an international symposium sponsored by the Universitatea Babes-Bolyai in Cluj-Napoca , Romania.

by Peter LeithartOctober 8, 2013
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Isaiah

Branch and Root

Through the prophet Isaiah, Yahweh threatens to send Assyria to Judah and Israel. He will swing Assyria as an ax to lop down the proud trees of Judah (10:33-34). He is going to lop off the branches of the trees, and cut down the tall trees. Trees are people, and…

by Peter LeithartOctober 7, 2013
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Theopolis News

Constantine Conference

Peter Leithart, President of Trinity House, will deliver a lecture a a conference on "Constantine: Religious Faith and Imperial Policy," which will be held October 4-5 at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. The conference is co-sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Center of Hellenic Studies at Richard Stockton and the Orthodox…

by Peter LeithartOctober 4, 2013

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Orientation of worship

Throughout the OT, worshipers drew near to God moving from east to west, returning to Eden. The Christian church reversed this, so that Christian worshipers enter by the west door and face east during worship. Is this change justified? What does it signify? No doubt many things, but this at…

April 14, 2006

Easter Musings on Genesis 29

1) Jacob goes to Paddan-Aram fleeing from his father’s house; in that far country, he endures abuse and treachery, yet returns with brides and numerous flocks and herds. When he goes out from his father’s house, he has nothing – a staff (32:10) – but he returns to his father’s…

April 14, 2006
Philosophy

Gift and relation

MG Anspach says that “To give a gift in return, to recognize the generosity of the first giver through a corresponding gesture of reciprocity, is to recognize the relation for which the initial gift is only a vehicle.” This helpfully highlights the fact that the return gift is less a…

April 13, 2006
History

Power of gift

Levi-Srauss doubts Mauss’ spiritualization of the gift that Mauss draws from the Maori concept of “hau,” the power that is communicated in, with, and under the gift. Rather, hau is “the conscious form whereby men of a given society . . . apprehended an unconscious necessity whose explanation lies elsewhere.”…

April 13, 2006
History

Twain on Gratitude

Thanks to NSA librarian Ed Iverson for providing references to Mark Twain’s “Letters from Earth,” where he assaults Christianity, and in several places mocks Christian gratitude to God. For instance: “Just so with diseases. If science exterminates a disease which has been working for God, it is God that gets…

April 13, 2006
History

Late Medieval Gratitude

Andrew Galloway traces the development of explicit discussions of gratitude in a 1994 article from the Journal of the History of Ideas. A few highlights: 1) Though he admits that gratitude was not “‘invented’ at some moment in human culture,” and that it was “the basis for social and religious…

April 13, 2006

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