Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
[This essay was originally published in 1988. Given the situation that our new national socialists are getting the world into, I thought it might be useful to reprint it here. – JBJordan] The Bible has quite a bit to say about gold, silver, and precious stones, and the Bible always…
I wrote this elsewhere and was encouraged to put it here. It is a comment on what a pastor is. Today, this is not very well understood, and God’s people suffer because of it. There are four professions: medicine, education, law, and religion. Each of these, when done at a…
James Jordan recently pointed out in private conversation how appropriate it is, in John’s Gospel, that Nicodemus is present both to ask Jesus about being born again, and to see Jesus re-enter the womb of the mother. Nicodemus rhetorically asks, “How can a man be born when he is old?…
This is a problematic and much discussed passage. I’ve been discussing it in another forum, and have decided to move it here and present some very preliminary observations about it. One large question is this: Who is the speaker here and what is his situation? Traditionally, the speaker is seen…
1. The current issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction includes a good fantasy novella by John C. Wright, who since his conversion has been writing Christianly. This is a fine fantasy with nods to C. S. Lewis and Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and probably Gene Wolfe as well.…
“It is an experience of our days that the spoken name of Jesus alone exercises an unforeseen power; and the effort which it cost to speak this name is perhaps connected to some faint apprehension of the power which is inherent within it. Wherever the name of Jesus Christ is…
Showing page 209 of 309
Showing page 6 of 43
Terry Eagleton ( Culture and the Death of God ) observes that culture was once considered the solution to the twentieth century's loss of religion. The ambiguity of “culture” - its “aesthetic” elite meaning and its popular “anthropological” meaning - was exploited to serve political ends. TS Eliot understood that…
Lonny Harrison's forthcoming Archetypes from Underground suggests that Jung, as well as literary treatments of archetypes (Frye), are useful for understanding Dostoevsky's characters, plots, themes, and poetics. Harrison makes a good case for the comparison of Dostoevsky and Jung, noting that they both draw on German Romanticism - especially Schelling…
Like a high priest preparing to cleanse the footstool of Yahweh, Jesus put aside His garments and girded Himself to wash His disciples’ feet (John 13:1-11). The Lord became servant. It was not the first time. He had been the Lordly servant from the beginning, and He would be servant…
Robert Farneti ( Mimetic Politics ) observes that Rene Girard refused to describe his project as theology. Farneti thinks Girard was right: He wasn't writing theology but “a theory of man.” He writes, “Girard's mimetic theory culminates in a radical rejection of theology, in particular of its claims to articulate…
In one section of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest , which turned 20 this year, we follow Don Gately, erstwhile expert in breaking and entering (B&E) and addict, to a meeting of a Boston chapter of AA. Wallace gives us several harrowing glimpses into addiction, one of which comes from…
Maps and Meanings by Nancy Wiener and Jo Hirschmann aims to apply insights drawn from the book of Leviticus to contemporary pastoral care. The authors lay out the Levitical mapping of reality, centered on the sanctuary, and then focus on the Levitical category of michutz lamachaneh , “outside the camp,”…
Showing page 307 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
