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Writing

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

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Counseling

Two Solutions for the Problem of Pain

C. S. Lewis tackled what is perhaps the most difficult and oft-heard objection to the Christian God in his classic, The Problem of Pain. 1 “If God were good,” Lewis restates the problem, “He would wish to make His creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty, He would be…

by Alexander WhitakerNovember 19, 2019
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Luke

Jesus’ Lamentations

There is nothing incongruous about assuming that Jesus lamented over His people on three separate occasions and that on two of those occasions, He expressed Himself in almost identical language. Two lamentations are recorded in the Gospel of Luke and are clearly marked as distinct. They are also expressed in…

by Ralph Allan SmithNovember 14, 2019
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Biblical Theology

Sacramental Representation and the Created Order

In the Anglican Church in North America, the question of women’s ordination to the priesthood continues to be discussed with each diocese left to decide its own practice. A recurring point of debate is how we are to understand the priest’s representative role in the liturgy. Emily McGowin, in a…

by Blake JohnsonNovember 12, 2019
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Theopolis News

Press Release: New Board Members!

The Theopolis Institute recently added two new members to its Board of Directors, Josh Rollins and Sarah Moore. Josh has recently served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development for MeTEOR Education, and was previously Chief Financial Officer at MeTEOR. He brings a wealth of finance experience, and will take…

by TheopolisNovember 12, 2019
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Pastoral Ministry

Seven Theses on Practical Unity

Since moving to Englewood, Colorado, I have been blessed to be involved in the nuts-and-bolts practice of Church unity. The pastors here talk about the One Church in Englewood, and mean it. They love each other, pray fervently for each other, and long for the unity they enjoy to spread…

by Tim NicholsNovember 5, 2019
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Language

How to Use Bad Words

One day, the author Samuel Clemens cut himself shaving. He was an inveterate foul-mouth and on this occasion recited the entirety of his iniquitous vocabulary. When he was finished, his wife, hoping to shock him, repeated every word he said. Clemens responded, "You have the words, dear, but you don't…

by Remy WilkinsOctober 29, 2019

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Pauline Variations on a Greek Theme

Paul uses the phrase “elements of the world” several times in his letters. The phrase had an accepted meaning by the first century, referring to the four elements of Greek science—fire, air, water, earth. Paul uses the phrase, but he doesn’t use the phrase in the accepted sense. What conclusions—substantive…

September 4, 2014

Holding the Faith of Christ

In a 2002 essay in the Andrews University Seminary Studies, Sigve Tonstad reviews the debate over the phrase pistis Christou - faith in Christ v. faith of Christ. The debate is typically confined to Paul’s letters, but Tonstad rightly points out that the last use of the phrase in the…

September 4, 2014

Souls In White

Several parallels link John fifth-seal vision of martyrs under the altar (Revelation 6:9-11) with the climactic sixth-seal vision of a multitude before the throne (7:9-17). Revelation talks a lot about clothing, and a lot about white clothing in particular. Only three times, however, does the book use the Greek stole…

September 4, 2014

What Is Marriage?

Douglas Farrow has some wise observations about the same-sex marriage debate in his Touchstone review of Girgis, Anderson, and George, What Is Marriage? He commends the authors’ courage and insight, and is thoroughly in agreement with their effort to defend traditional marriage. But Farrow doesn’t think that the book hits…

September 4, 2014

Order of Worship, Order of War

Cherubim have four faces: ox, lion, eagle, man. As James Jordan has argued, those four faces are associated with different offices of Israel and phases of Israel’s history: the ox is sacrificial and priestly, the lion is royal, the eagle is prophetic, and Jesus is the man of the new…

September 3, 2014

Silence to Song

When the Lamb appears in heaven, heaven bursts into song (Revelation 5). After the seven trumpets (Revelation 8-11), John sees a long series of visions depicting the dragon’s various attacks on the church. When the saints have all been safely harvested and raised above the firmament, they burst into song…

September 3, 2014

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