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Writing

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

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Music

The Case for Shorter Hymnals

I believe hymnals should be shorter than they are. Much shorter. 100 hymns at most, let’s say. I imagine that this will be a hard one to swallow for most of my readers, so I will attempt to bolster my argument as best I can. I can’t think of any…

by John AhernNovember 16, 2021
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Hermeneutics

King Joshua and the Christian

Joshua is never called a king in the Bible. Yet while lacking the title, Joshua possesses the trappings of biblical kingship to a degree that it seems warranted to consider him a royal figure. There are lots of reasons for thinking this. In a 1981 Journal of Biblical Literature article,…

by Daniel HoffmanNovember 9, 2021
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Language

The Liturgy of Language

God speaks. He is not silent. He has designed humanity for reception of such communication and also to speak on His behalf. This speaking is not simply happenstance. It is not just a curious quirk about humanity. It is intrinsic to who we are that we speak and shape the…

by Chase DavisNovember 2, 2021
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Practicing Repentance

One evening, years ago, home from college for Christmas break, I dreamt that I was playing the piano, passionately and well, in the church sanctuary beneath the parsonage in the renovated mansion in rural New Hampshire where my father was the minister. It was something of a lucid dream because…

by Garrett SoucyOctober 26, 2021
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Anxiety

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

I’m a big worrier. Always have been. Some of my earliest memories are of being anxious to the point of getting sick, sometimes for trivial reasons. My mind moves a million miles a minute, wondering what will happen in 5 minutes, or tomorrow, or next week, or in ten years.…

by MargaretAnn HesterOctober 21, 2021
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Biblical Studies

“But Lot’s Wife Behind Him”: Translating a Conjunction in the Sodom Story

“The sun had gone up on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. And the LORD rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD from heaven, and he devastated those cities and the whole valley and all those dwelling in the cities and the growth of…

by Josh JensenOctober 19, 2021

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How Change Happens

T he world is full of activists and “change agents,” but Duncan Green doesn’t think anyone has a clear idea of how social change occurs. In How Change Happens , he offers elements of a theory of change, along with case studies and some practical direction for people who want…

September 23, 2016

Postmodern Manicheanism

I n his published conversation with Zygmunt Bauman about Liquid Evil , Leonidas Donskis observes that “ Optimism is, above all, a Christian construction – it’s based on the faith that good can overcome evil and that unexplored possibilities and alternatives can always be found.” As Christianity’s influence has declined…

September 23, 2016

Dylan a'Changin'

F ew pop stars have been as mercurial as Bob Dylan. Folk singer, rock star, gospel singer, a mimic of James Dean, Christian, Jew. Each change in his musical trajectory has been accompanied by a change of personality. Even his voice has changed over his decades of fame. As Andrew…

September 23, 2016

Abraham's Fourfold Genealogy

A braham’s genealogy in 1 Chronicles 1 can’t seem to get off the ground. He’s identified as father of “Isaac and Ishmael” (v. 28), but the genealogy that follows goes off with 12 sons of Ishmael (the genealogy is enclosed with Ishmael’s name, vv. 29–31) and leave Isaac behind. Finally,…

September 22, 2016

Confusion of Humanity, Reign of God

A s everyone now knows, 2016 has been dubbed the year of the “Flight 93 Election” by an anonymous writer with a Latin pseudonym. The piece in the Claremont Review of Books is a frontal assault on conservative intellectuals and an “it’s worth a try” defense of Trumpism. As he…

September 22, 2016

Communio Beyond Ecclesiology

C ommunio has been a key concept in Roman Catholicism over the past century, but David L. Schindler ( Heart of the World, Center of the Church ) observes that it has a more-than-ecclesial scope. It implies a certain relation between the church and the world, and a vision of…

September 21, 2016

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