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Writing

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

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City

The City of Cain

Not long ago, I heard these statistics about New York City: New York City is in $100 billion in debt. 20% of all NYC residents are on food stamps, which cost $250 million a month. 5% of NYC population are on disability, costing $252 million a month. Other assistance costs…

by Richard BledsoeJune 25, 2020
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Empire

Twenty-Five Theses on Empire

1. All political power is ambivalent. Vertical violence of “the state” tends to limit horizontal and contested power between people and between tribes. “The State” brings new oppression, but also a measure of new peace and unity. 2. All political formations are ambiguous like this: a strong family conquers weaker…

by John MilbankJune 23, 2020
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Coronavirus

Virtual Gnosticism and the Church – some disturbing thoughts about Covid19

Gnosticism by any other name would smell the same. But does the church have much of a theological sense of smell, these days, when it comes to the seductions of virtuality in our worshipping communities? Social isolation during a global pandemic makes good public health sense, but whether church should…

by Paul TysonJune 16, 2020
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American Culture

The Priorities of Priests and Protests

It is a remarkable thing, you know, this thing called priority. Just a few weeks ago, religious leaders were boldly asserting in their high-dollar online videos that it was too dangerous to return to worship and that we needed to listen to our political and health leaders. "They are the…

by Uri BritoJune 15, 2020
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James

Anger, Riots, Violence, & Justice: How the Epistle of James Came to be Written

Somewhere in the city of Jerusalem on a rooftop just a few years after the ascension of Jesus and the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost. . . ". . . and just when are you guys going to live up to your ‘Sons of Thunder’ reputation? Huh? A lot…

by Jeff MeyersJune 9, 2020
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Proverbs

Lady Wisdom Eve

In my book, Solomon Says: Directives for Young Men ( Amazon , Kindle ) I mention that Solomon portrays wisdom as a woman. But I don’t ask (or answer!) why he did so. Solomon uses the figure of Lady Wisdom without apology or explanation: Wisdom cries aloud in the street,…

by Mark HorneJune 2, 2020

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KMart-Sears

The Weekly Standard parody of the KMart-Sears merger (Nov 29) is too rich. The parody is a letter purporting to be from a market researcher to the KMart board of directors. Here’s a couple of samples: “We recently received the preliminary report from our $30-million, 5-year contract with ImagInc, who…

December 7, 2004

American Foreign Policy

Kenneth Minogue provides a superb summary of the case for the Bush foreign policy in the Nov 12 issue of TLS : “the United States is an open liberal democracy with which millions of Europeans are directly acquainted, and it has been our sheet-anchor against both fascist and Communist totalitarianism…

December 7, 2004
History

Alexander

Peter Green, reviewing Paul Cartledge’s new Alexander biography in TNR , cites a “remarkable anecdote told by Theophrastus, who surely had it from Aristotle when the latter was Alexander’s tutor”: “Both Philip and Olympias, he alleges, were scared that their adolescent son was showing signs of becoming a GYMNIS, that…

December 7, 2004

Eucharistic Meditation, Second Sunday in Advent

John 1:14; 6:55-56: ?And the Word became flesh . . . . [Jesus said] ?My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in Him.?E This morning, we have been considering the incarnation of…

December 5, 2004
Theology

Exhortation, Second Sunday in Advent

Christmas is about many things, but one of the chief things revealed in the gospel of Christmas is the humility of God. We don?t often think of humility as an attribute of God. If God is glorious and exalted, we think, He must be haughty and proud and self-centered. We…

December 5, 2004

Order of Worship

This repeats some material from an earlier post. INTRODUCTION In the last several classes, we have been looking at sacrifice as it operated in the OC, both in the Mosaic and the Davidic worship. We have seen that Mosaic worship follows a sequence of purification-ascension-communion, and we have seen that…

December 5, 2004

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