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Ascension

On the Ascension of the Lord

Leo the Great's second sermon on the Ascension, Sermon 74 . I. The mystery of our salvation, dearly-beloved, which the Creator of the universe valued at the price of His blood, has now been carried out under conditions of humiliation from the day of His bodily birth to the end…

by TheopolisMay 25, 2017
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Ecclesiology

Church on the Cross

Life, Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy says, is suffering, battle, pain, shock, failure, elation. Human beings are always torn, always riven. Much of human life, individually and col­lectively, is an effort to deal with suffering and death. By being the first Man, Jesus establishes the possibility of a different stance toward suffering and…

by Peter LeithartMay 23, 2017
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Baptism

Baptism Impasse: Baptists vs. Presbyterians (Part 1)

Is Christian baptism given to believers only or to believers and their children? That’s the question that must be answered—but only if you’re Baptist or Presbyterian. That’s how the question is framed between these two denominations in this dispute, and it’s along these lines the debate unfolds as each side…

by Mani MarprelateMay 18, 2017
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Political Theology

Philanthropic God

Again and again the liturgy of St Chrysostom calls God a lover of mankind. He is Philanthropolos Theos (man-loving God), Kurios Philanthropolos (man-loving Lord), Philopsychos (lover of the soul). Philanthropy wasn’t a Christian invention. Roman benefactors gave benefits to subordinates. What was new was the shape of philanthropy, for the…

by Peter LeithartMay 16, 2017
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Marriage

Marriage and Betrayal

Perhaps the most fearful of all possibilities in the world is the possibility of betrayal on the part of someone who is in a “position of trust.” This, unfortunately, is the first block in what ought to be the foundation of every marriage in the world. Every woman has a…

by Richard BledsoeMay 11, 2017
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City

Church in the Metropolis

It seems that denominationalism has had its day. A 2009 Barna survey found that denominational commitments have gone squishy in mainline Protestant churches, and Evangelicals don’t fare much better than the rest. After a similar survey, Ron Sellers of Ellison Research said that Protestants are as “loyal to their denominations…

by Peter LeithartMay 9, 2017

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Dostoevsky's "Socialism"

Following the death of his first wife, Dostoevsky reflected on immortality, a meditation that led him into political musings on "socialism," religious and secular. His premise, exemplified in his own brutal treatment of his wife, is that Ego controls our lives. Christ's commands lay out the path toward fulfillment, but…

December 15, 2017

Migration of the Mystical

One of the key threads of Pecknold’s story (in Christianity and Politics ) is the “migration” of the Christian notion of the mystical body. Henri de Lubac first demonstrated that between patristic period and the high middle ages, the term had moved from the Eucharist to the church itself. Early…

December 15, 2017

Limits of the Fathers

At the beginning of Cur Deus Homo (p. 260), Anselm commends his work to Urban II. In the process, he both commends the Fathers of the church, and suggests that they did not answer every question. First, the commendation: "Many of our holy Fathers and teachers, following the Apostles, speak…

December 15, 2017

Russia's Destiny

In an 1880 speech at the Pushkin Festival, Dostoevsky reflected on the destiny of Russia. The Westernizing reforms of Peter the Great didn't just introduce Western Engineering and fashion into Russia. Peter set the universal mission of the Russian people: "For what is the reform of Peter the Great to…

December 15, 2017

Reaping and Sowing

In The Limits of Power , Andrew Bacevich (a West Point graduate) has argued that we cannot disconnect our foreign policy from our “domestic dysfunction.” Bacevich notes that US foreign policy is driven by a belief in “liberty,” but liberty defined as abundance, the freedom to indulge our lust for…

December 15, 2017

Can Allah Create?

The question here is not, Did Allah create? The question is, Is it conceivable that a god like Allah could create the world? Does it make any sense to say that an absolutely sovereign but Unitarian god created the universe? Our first reaction might be: Why not? If Allah is…

December 14, 2017

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