Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In my last essay, we saw how consumer culture has gutted the familial category necessary to understand the church. When a consumer visits a church, he expects another service-provider, such as a hospital or a restaurant. He doesn’t understand the role of men in ministry, and thus, not the role…
First time visitors to our church sometimes express their surprise that children, even the youngest, participate with their parents in the entire worship service. Many congregations created an expectation for the parents (and children) of Sunday School or Child Care being available during the entire worship service or during the…
Quantifying the Love of God “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” ~ John 3:16 This most beloved verse in all the Bible was spoken by the Savior himself to Nicodemus. As…
While The Lord’s Prayer enjoys wide recognition throughout the Church, its richness and depth may be unrealized due to a lesser familiarity with, what I will argue is, its primary inspiration: the Tabernacle. There, Christ’s intent can rightly be discerned. The Prayer’s methodological correction to the Jews and Gentiles wasn’t…
The Consumption of the Covenant Idea of the Church Last time we saw consumerism, having canalized its attitudes in our culture, shapes what the consumer sees when he or she steps into a church. Here, we’ll see how it has eviscerated the covenant and familial ideas necessary to understand the…
The ignoble Jayber Crow can stir your appetite for the noble. It’s the simplicity of a good ol’ Port William boy that builds the charm of the book. In fact, the elitists in Port William receive the harshest blows and severest outcomes, as they should. But before delving into the…
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In the final panel discussion at the LA Theological Conference, Alan Torrance offered this arresting interpretation of Peter’s confession in Matthew 16: Peter rightly confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, and Jesus responds by telling him “flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but My Father”…
Some reflections on bodies and the gospel at First Things this morning.
Shestov on Socrates: “How painful it is to read Plato’s account of the last conversations of Socrates! The days, even the hours of the old man are numbered, and yet he talks, talks, talks . . . . Crito comes to him in the early morning and tells him that…
More from Shestov: He finds an allegory of metaphysics in Anderson’s tale of the emperor’s new clothes and the child who declares the king naked. Children are always the obstacle in keeping up the charade about the emperor’s clothes. What’s to be done about the children? Shestov says, “With them…
Lev Shestov has some very funny critiques of metaphysics in All Things are Possible . In one section, he compares the differences between metaphysics and positivism to styles of painting: “In each there is the same horizon, but the composition and colouring are different. Positivism chooses grey, colorless paint and…
As a Pastor I feel the Lord’s pleasure when I preach His Word. It is a deep joy to be called and commissioed to open the Word of the Triune God for the people of God. For most of us we thought we were opening that Word faithfully and fully.…
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