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

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John

Jesus, David, Adam: A Reading of John 18:1-11

John 18:1-11 appears on the surface to be a straightforward, if somewhat unusual, narrative of Jesus’ arrest by officers of the chief priests and Pharisees accompanied by an apparently large group of Roman soldiers, all of them led by the betrayer, Judas. But there is much more here than what…

by Ralph Allan SmithJuly 3, 2013
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American Politics

Not So Special

Why is the US embroiled in the Middle East? There are two primary answers: Oil and Israel. Both are fairly intractable problems, the latter in significant part because of the unique convergence of theology and politics that has forged American policy in the region. Dispensationalists insist that we must bless…

by Peter LeithartJuly 1, 2013
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Hermeneutics

Raven of the Gospel

There’s a common theme that arises in the study of theologians James B. Jordan and Peter Leithart. It is this: Context matters. Details matter. This is God’s Word. The details are not arbitrary “filler” hiding the kernel of truth in the husk of the text. The husk and the kernel…

by Troy GreeneJune 26, 2013
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Anxiety

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 BledsoeJune 24, 2013
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Theopolis News

One More Week

Only one more week to register to the Trinity Term class on "How to Read the Bible," taught by James Jordan and Peter Leithart. Sign up today!

by Peter LeithartJune 24, 2013
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Homosexuality

Reorienting our Sex Talk

The way we talk about the world matters. Our doctrine of creation tells us that words do not simply reflect reality. They also shape it and the way we inhabit it. Among the world’s many language groups, the Church is distinct. She is called to name things with Scriptural language,…

by Matthew MasonJune 19, 2013

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Freudian slip

On page 159 of her extraordinary Rituals of Spontaneity , Lori Branch writes an “if” as an “id.”

February 9, 2007
Literature

Criminal linen

In May 1757, Christopher Smart, Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, renowned poet, writer for John Newbery, was involuntarily incarcerated in a London madhouse, where he spent the next seven years. His crime: Spontaneous public prayer, which arose from his conviction that it was a crime to resist the impulse to…

February 9, 2007

Ask and have

John says in 1 John 5:15: “if we know he hears, we know we have. His hearing and our having are identified. As soon as God hears, we have; as soon as God hears, He gives. There is no lapse between request and gift. There is a time lapse between…

February 9, 2007

Into the name

We are baptized, Jesus said, into the “name” of the Triune God. John says that we also “believe into the name” (1 John 5:13). Among other things, baptism is a road sign pointing faith in the right direction, toward the “name” of God. As such, baptism’s efficacy continues beyond the…

February 9, 2007

Trinity and forgiveness

The doctrine of the Trinity is the pre-condition for forgiveness. Consider: “If a man sins against another man, God will mediate for him; but if man sins against God, who can intercede for Him” (1 Samuel 2:25). God stands between man and man, and can reconcile; but who stands between…

February 8, 2007

Asking and giving

John says, “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he will ask and he will give life” (1 John 5:16). Some commentators suggest a change of subject in the main clause: The brother “asks” but God “gives life.” That’s grammatically awkward, and Stott bites the bullet…

February 8, 2007

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