Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
The idea of atonement is not a distinctly Christian, or even Hebraic, concept. It also makes an appearance in ancient Greek thought (among other places). The Greek tradition is by no means monolithic, so it isn’t possible to speak of a “Greek” concept of atonement. But there are certain commonalities…
As we know, there are seven deadly or capital sins. Prior to the list of the seven deadly sins there was a list of eight evil thoughts or demons. It was made by an Eastern monk, Evagrius Ponticus. When the list was transposed to the West, one evil thought was…
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is one of those epistles in Scripture to which pastors and teachers resort to show the church everything that it shouldn’t be . There is, of course, good reason for this. The Corinthian church was filled with all sorts of problems. Personality cults (i.e., factions),…
Today is Ash Wednesday , and as many Christians of the Protestant formerly "low church" persuasion are reacquiring some of the good and ancient practices of the church, one question in particular comes to the front: to ash or not to ash? That is, while many of us are finding…
A murder of tweets. To observe Lent rightly, we have to be persuaded that we already stand in God’s favor. Ash Wednesday reminds us to number our days. It helps us gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12). We keep Easter to manifest and deepen our prior share in resurrection.…
Dale C. Allison, Jr., The New Moses: A Matthean Typology (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993). Dale Allison 1993 book is a superb case study in the New Testament's use of the Old. Though he focuses on only a single typology (Christ as a new Moses) in only a single gospel (Matthew), Allison's…
Showing page 136 of 309
Showing page 5 of 43
I ngrid D. Rowland reviews several shows and books focusing on the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch (born Jheronimus van Aken ), celebrating this the 500th anniversary of his birth. Rowland notes that “Bosch’s grandfather and grandmother enrolled as members of the Brotherhood of Our Lady, the local religious confraternity. Ever…
B en Crair wants us to appreciate the fig as more than “a geriatric delicacy or the sticky stuff inside bad cookies.” Figs are “awesome: enclosed flowers that bloom modestly inward, unlike the flamboyant showoffs on other plants. Bite a fig in half and you’ll discover a core of tiny…
I n his Anchor Bible commentary on Revelation (102-3), Craig Koester summarizes the book's warnings about wealth. On the one hand, “wealth makes people ‘blind’”(Rev 3 :17 ). The charge can be correlated with Babylon’s arrogant inability to see the destructive consequences of its actions (18 : 7 –8 ).…
I n one of man jaw-dropping reminders in America's War for the Greater Middle East , Andrew Bacevich notes the origin of Iran's nuclear programs, so much and so controversially in the news of late: During Nixon's Presidency, while the Shah ruled Iran, “U.S. arms exports to Iran sky-rocketed. Between…
N athaniel Rich reviews the Library of America edition of the works of Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of Central Park, inventor of landscape gardening, inspirer of the national park system. Rich discerns an “unmistakable irony” in Olmsted's theory of landscape: “It takes a lot of artifice to create convincing ‘natural'…
C aitlin Flanagan offers a characteristically searching analysis of the roots of our binge drinking academic, tracing it to a new mode of parenting that she describes as “Get-Real Parenting.” But she recognizes that it has a deeper source than parenting style: The hollowness at the center of their lives—the…
Showing page 263 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
