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

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Biblical Studies

Esther and Ruth, Grain and Fruit

1 Introduction ESTHER and RUTH are similar stories. Each details the changing fortunes of a young woman. Each begins with the protagonist in a destitute situation. The fortunes of each reverses by story’s end. Intriguing parallels exist: Scenes : The stories transition through a similar set of scenes, see Table…

by Scott FairbanksApril 29, 2021
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Biblical Studies

A Hermeneutic of Riddles

Maybe this is not the best venue to reveal that I sometimes wonder about all that deep exegesis: the chiasms, the numerology, vowel modifications, the typological labyrinthes, the innumerable exodus patterns that are so often limned by Peter Leithart or James Jordan or Alastair Roberts. Maybe it’s because I am…

by John AhernApril 27, 2021
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Culture

Building New Watchtowers

In 1923, J. Gresham Machen wrote the book he is perhaps most remembered for, “Christianity and Liberalism”. Machen wrote it to help map out the cultural currents that were impacting the church with the hope that the church could be vigilant against the dangers theological liberalism posed to historic Christianity.…

by Steve GreggApril 22, 2021
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Matthew

THE ANNUNCIATION TO JOSEPH | (Matthew 1:18-25)

March 25, nine months before Christmas, is the date that is often associated with the Annunciation to Mary, Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that, by the coming of the Spirit upon her, she would conceive and bear the heir to David’s throne, whose kingdom would have no end. The story is…

by John BarachApril 20, 2021
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Book Review

Book Review: Race and Covenant: Recovering the Religious Roots for American Reconciliation

Race and Covenant: Recovering the Religious Roots for American Reconciliation , edited by Gerald R. McDermott (Grand Rapids, MI: Acton Institute), 278 pp. A group of notable thinkers gathered to discuss biblical resources for addressing racial conflict in America in February 2019 at Samford University in Birmingham. Race and Covenant…

by Ben PetersonApril 15, 2021
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Matthew

Full Preterism’s Fatal Fractal Fracture

“Covenant Creationism,” which might be the most consistent brand of full preterism, is merely dispensationalism turned inside-out. The main cause of disputes over the interpretation of the Scriptures is the practice of interpreting texts in isolation. This applies not only to interpreting a passage without reference to other passages, but…

by Mike BullApril 13, 2021

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The Original Structuralist

Adam Kuper reviewed Emmanuelle Loyer's Claude Levi-Strauss in a 2016 issue of the TLS . A few noteworthy tidbits. It's intriguing that the great classifier of kin relations should come from a densely interconnected family: "Lévi-Strauss grew up in a densely intermarried family circle made up exclusively of cultivated Parisian…

November 17, 2017

Liturgy of Liberalism

Adrian Vermeule has a brilliant review of Ryszard Legutko's Demon in Democracy . He begins with Tocqueville's observation that the French Revolution "developed into a species of religion" but one without ritual. Legutko, and Vermeule following him, dissent: "The Revolution’s descendants not only possess a theology and eschatology, but a…

November 17, 2017

Secularizing Covenant

In an essay on covenant as a political concept , Daniel Elazar briefly traces the development of covenant, and its relation to natural law, from Philo to Spinoza. Reformed theorists like Althusius loom large, what with their recovery and expansion of the biblical conception of "covenant." Elazar writes, "The federal…

November 17, 2017

The Politicization of Everyday Life

How did everything get politicized - every choice of a favorite beer, every style decision, every nook and cranny of everyday life? Bruce Schulman blames it on Rolling Stone magazine. As he writes, "/the magazine embraced the countercultural ideal of authenticity — living life to the fullest, right now, within…

November 17, 2017

Albanian as Literary Language

Albanian isn't usually considered an important literary language, but Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare explained in an interview with the Paris Review how the language merges classical and modern forms of literary expression: "Albanian is simply an extraordinary means of expression—rich, malleable, adaptable. As I have said in my latest novel,…

November 17, 2017

This Little Babe

Infants and toddlers can’t dress, feed, or transport themselves. Yet in the paradoxical world of the Bible, their very weakness makes them strong. One Child, the Davidic one with the government on His shoulders, is strong enough to overthrow Satan. As a prep for Advent, sing this once a day,…

November 17, 2017

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