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

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Apostle Paul

Paul Among the People

We've all heard it, too often to count. The Apostle Paul was a misgynistic homophobic pro-slavery authoritarian, probably a repressed homosexual himself, the first Puritan - Puritan here defined as "someone who cannot sleep if someone in the world is having fun." To call this a caricature is too generous.…

by Peter LeithartAugust 28, 2018
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How to Worship

Psalms for Exile: The Narrative Progression in the Fifth Book of the Psalter

Some of our forefathers believed in reading/singing the psalms in order. Today, when the psalms are even used at all, they tend to be used randomly, though sometimes tied to a church calendar or to the pastor’s sermon. The Bible does not bind us to any particular practice, but there…

by James B. JordanAugust 23, 2018
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1 Corinthians

The Rock That Followed Them

". . . and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4). Paul’s passing comment about the rock that followed the Israelites in the wilderness has often been treated as a bit of…

by Peter LeithartAugust 21, 2018
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Biblical Theology

Hezekiah’s Sign

The story of Hezekiah’s illness and recovery is familiar to every child who has attended Sunday School. Informed that he would die, faithful King Hezekiah pleaded in tears for a longer life. God heard his prayers and saw his tears, and promised fifteen more years. As a sign that He…

by Peter LeithartAugust 16, 2018
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Movies

The Last Man: Herod and Jesus in “Sunshine”

When viewed as an allegory of biblical history, the controversial third act of Danny Boyle’s gripping sci-fi adventure is transformed from an illogical divergence into a blinding revelation. The following analysis contains spoilers for the movie “Sunshine.” The Creation Week is the elementary type that orders everything God has said…

by Mike BullAugust 14, 2018
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Epistemology

Seeking Integration in a Fragmented World: Integration…and Things

In my last post , I told you the story of my current desire to understand philosopher D.C. Schindler’s metaphysical work. With this post, I start in to the venture. I begin by reflecting on what it is to be a thing. This matter always makes me laugh, and makes…

by Esther Lightcap MeekAugust 9, 2018

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Seeing God

Deuteronomy and Exodus contradict one another regarding the visibility of God, says Margaret Barker in Temple Mysticism (p. 2). Moses reminds the Israelites, “you heard the sound of words but saw no form” (Deuteronomy 4:12). Exodus 24:10, though, says that Moses and the elders “saw the God of Israel” while…

January 28, 2013
Literature

Syntax is Character

A favorite passage from Emma . Mrs. Elton is picking strawberries: “The best fruit in England — everybody’s favourite — always wholesome. These the finest beds and finest sorts. Delightful to gather for oneself — the only way of really enjoying them. Morning decidedly the best time — never tired…

January 28, 2013
Literature

Austen’s Anglicanism

My review of Laura Mooneyham White’s Jane Austen’s Anglicanism (2011), first published in Credenda Agenda about a year ago. “She was thoroughly religious and devout,” wrote Rev. Henry Austen soon after the death of his beloved sister. Brother James, also an Anglican minister and a poet, added “Hers, Fancy quick,…

January 28, 2013
Literature

Self-critic

January 29, 1813, the day after Pride and Prejudice was published, Jane Austen wrote to her sister Cassandra. It’s the first critique of the book, as Austen beats the reviewers to the punch: She mentioned a friend who “really does seem to admire Elizabeth,:” and adds: “I must confess that…

January 28, 2013
Literature

From Politics to Silence

My favorite passage from Northanger Abbey (Dover Thrift Editions) . Henry Tilney has taken upon himself to instruct Catherine Morland about the aesthetics and the theory of the picturesque: “Delighted with [Catherine’s] progress, and fearful of wearying her with too much wisdom at once, Henry suffered the subject to decline,…

January 28, 2013

Eucharistic meditation

Colossians 1:17: He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Pastor Sumpter has said it all: Jesus is enough. If you have Jesus, you have everything you could ever want, more than you could ever need. If you have Jesus, you have knowledge of the will…

January 27, 2013

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