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Writing

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

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Ezra

Ezra: The Aaronic Rest-Giver

If you’re a preacher looking for good commentaries on Ezra, you’ll struggle. Certainly to find ones that wrestle in good detail with the text. And certainly ones that don’t cost you an arm and a leg. There’s a good bit more for Nehemiah, which is odd, as the two are…

by Rhys LavertyJune 8, 2021
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1 John

1 John in Community

Quick thought experiment: try to pretend you’ve never read 1 John before. Read 1:1-6. Go ahead; I’ll wait. Now, on to v. 7: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with ______….” What word would you expect in that blank, based…

by Tim NicholsJune 1, 2021
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Hermeneutics

Spending Time with Noah: Reflections on Prepositions in the Flood Narrative

In my work as a Bible translator, I was recently checking our translation team’s draft of Genesis 8:8, which says of Noah (translating the Hebrew quite literally): And he sent out the dove from with him to see: had the waters lessened from upon the face of the ground? Part…

by Josh JensenMay 25, 2021
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Philosophy

Steven Weinberg Destroyed My Faith

Just in case a reader may not know Weinberg, he is a theoretical physicist and the winner of the Nobel prize in physics in 1979, as well as countless other prizes for his research. He is also a prolific, lucid, and captivating writer. If you want to read something on…

by Ralph Allan SmithMay 18, 2021
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Colossians

Reconciliation in Colossians 1:20

Colossians 1:15-20 is a famous passage in Paul’s epistles because it is a succinct and powerful poem. It appears even to have been a hymn. Given the uniquely Pauline language — “reconciliation” is a term used only by Paul — it should not seem odd to attribute the poem/hymn to…

by Ralph Allan SmithMay 11, 2021
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Movies

Terror of Knowing Myself

Stalker (1979) is a film by Andrei Tarkovsky based on Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers. It shows a day from the life of a stalker, a man who enters the so-called "Zone", an Alien landing site, where he leads people to a room that grants people’s innermost desires, which…

by Bogumil JarmulakMay 4, 2021

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American Religion

The Paradox of the Group

In their study of race and evangelicalsm ( Divided by Faith ), Michael Emerson and Christian Smith observe that “in the context of a pluralistic society, social groups construct and maintain collective identities by forming symbolic boundaries.” These boundaries are essential to the group. Every group defines itself, to some…

August 19, 2015

What Is Necessary for Salvation

From Wesley's Journal, December 1, 1767: “Being alone in the coach, I was considering several points of importance: and thus much appeared as clear as the day: That a man may be saved who cannot express himself properly concerning imputed righteousness. Therefore to do this is not necessary to salvation.…

August 19, 2015

Jerusalem and the Martyrs

When the Lamb opens the fifth seal, John sees martyrs under the altar crying out for vindication (Revelation 6). It's a recapitulation of the plea of the oppressed in Psalm 79: “Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?' Let there be known among the nations in our sight,…

August 18, 2015

In the Furnace

Daniel 3 tells the famous story of the three men in the fiery furnace. It's an image of Israel's experience in exile. They are sent into the furnace of Babylon, but they survive the fire - more than survive, they come out unsinged and are elevated to higher positions than…

August 18, 2015

Go Set A Watchman

The disappointment of Go Set A Watchman isn't the disappointment in the character of Atticus Finch. By the end of the book, Jean Louise has recognized that she's as much a “states rightist,” just as offended and outraged by the Supreme Court's meddling in the South, just as much a…

August 18, 2015

Trump Appeal

Over at Slate , Reiham Salam explains why Trump isn't going away: He's not merely the focal point for GOP anger. He represents the American version of a global phenomenon, the rise of populist-nationalist movements. Salam compares Trump's appeal to that of the Danish People's Party, which has become “Denmark’s…

August 18, 2015

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