Theopolis Logo

Writing

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

See all
screen-shot-2020-07-28-at-7-12-05-am
Wisdom

iMago Moi

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:27 In an ever-increasing barrage of self-obsession and tailor-made realities, how does the Christian navigate the waters of being someone who experiences life in the first person…

by Garrett SoucySeptember 29, 2020
img_4726-copy
Economics

Theses on Church Music and Economics

American church music is in a slump. To get out of the slump, we need a 10-year plan, a 50-year plan, and a 100-year plan. Many are doing extraordinary work on reforming church music in the near-term, and a few in the mid-term. What is desperately needed is the 100-year…

by John AhernSeptember 22, 2020
lazarus-2-2
Parables

The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man

The following is an excerpt from The Maker Versus the Takers: What Jesus Really Said About Social Justice and Economics ¸ by Jerry Bowyer (New York, Fidelis Books, Post Hill Press, 2020), release date Sept. 15 th . The section below argues that the ‘Rich Man’ in the parable refers…

by Jerry BowyerSeptember 15, 2020
absaloms_death
Biblical Studies

Death on a Tree: Absalom as Jesus-Type

Could Absalom be a Christ-type? If you know much about the Bible, you likely have an immediate aversion to even the possibility of answering this question in the affirmative. Absalom was third among David’s sons, while Amnon—his brother from another mother—was first (2 Sam. 3:2-3). As Absalom’s story begins, it…

by Eric RobinsonSeptember 8, 2020
giveusbarabbas
Biblical Studies

Barabbas

All four Gospels not only associate Barabbas and Jesus quite unabashedly, they do so emphatically and with a deep theological message. The scene is well-known. In His trial before Pontius Pilate, though Jesus had been declared innocent more than once, there seemed to be no hope of releasing Him. Pilate…

by Ralph Allan SmithSeptember 1, 2020
jim-jordan-teaching-2
Theopolis News

Announcement: The James B. Jordan Prize

The Theopolis Institute is pleased to announce the second round of the James B. Jordan Prize to honor outstanding doctoral dissertations in biblical theology. James Jordan is one of the most insightful biblical scholars of our time. The Jordan Prize exists to encourage more of the deep Scriptural investigation of…

by TheopolisAugust 31, 2020

Showing page 63 of 309

See all

Showing page 6 of 43

See all

Are Trinitarian Persons Persons?

B oethius defined persona as an “individual substance of a rational nature ( natuae rationalis individua substantia ). This definition is often cited as evidence that medieval Trinitarian theology, deeply influenced by Boethius, did not teach that the Trinitarian “Persons” are persons in the modern sense of the term -…

January 19, 2017

Justice and Righteousness

N estled within several chapters of 1 Chronicles that describe David's wars, 1 Chronicles 18:14–17 explains the purpose of those wars: To establish Yahweh's order of justice in Israel, an order of justice that David himself administers and mediates. Having conquered Philistia, Moab, Ammon, and Edom, David reigns over “all…

January 18, 2017

God's Sacramental Self-Gift

What does God give in creation and redemption? He gives us our own existence, and that the gift He gives is Himself. Both are true. Luther captures this latter point in his 1528 “Confession”: “These are the three Persons and the one God, Who has given Himself to us wholly…

January 17, 2017

Anthropomorphism and Nature

I n his Essays in Anthropology , Robert Spaemann observes that “the beginning of modern science was marked by polemics against the concept of nature. The concept of nature is now taken to be anthropomorphic, while the essentially teleological idea of things in the cosmos having ‘movement in themselves' is…

January 17, 2017

American Covenant

P hilip Gorski's American Covenant examines the American tradition of civil religion or civic republicanism from the Puritans through President Obama. Gorski contrasts this tradition with the two most belligerent contenders in contemporary American politics, religious nationalism and radical secularism. Civil religion differs from radical secularism in its anthropology (communitarian…

January 16, 2017

Conrad’s Mesmerizing Obscurity

K ate Symondson begins her TLS review of recent editions of Joseph Conrad’s letters and his novel Victory with a reminder of FR Leavis's complaint about Conrad's “insistence on inexpressible and incomprehensible mystery.” Symondson writes, “Instead of the Victorian preference for pellucid—almost pedantic—hardened detail, mist shrouds and encircles Conrad's fiction.…

January 13, 2017

Showing page 216 of 2212

Browse by Category

In Medias Res

Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.

Donate

Theopolis is nearly 100% donor-supported. Consider joining us on our mission.