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

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Advent

Advent and Christmas Music Recommendations

Inspired by our recent podcast on Christmas and Advent music recommendations, we offer here a list of excellent recordings that are sure to enrich your Advent and Christmas season. Praetorius: Mass for Christmas Morning Paul McCreesh with the Gabrieli Consort and Players Amazon | Spotify | Apple Music 2. Christmas…

by John Ahern and Paul BuckleyDecember 23, 2020
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Advent

Between the Altar and the City: Isaiah 65:17-25

In the year 1483 in the city of Nuremberg, the leaders of the renowned Saint Lawrence Church were seeking to redesign their altar, and above the table where the priests presided over the eucharist, they wanted new art installed above the prestigious Krell altar. What they decided on took everyone…

by Casey BedellDecember 22, 2020
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Advent

Why We're the Real Seventh Day Adventists

The consequences of disobedience start with exile from the garden of God and the Tree of Yahweh, but they do not end there. They cascade down through the structure of the dynastic order. Everything which had previously been given in the Kingdom of Elohim is either taken back or curtailed…

by Jerry BowyerDecember 18, 2020
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Biblical Studies

Psalm 23: A Lesson in Reading Biblical Poetry

Parallelism: A Course Correction If you have ever studied Hebrew poetry, you have probably heard its basic poetic feature described as “parallelism.” Hebrew poetry is not metered, it does not rhyme, it does not employ many of the common poetical tropes, but its distinctive (and almost universal) feature is commonly…

by Ryan HandermannDecember 15, 2020
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Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 17 and the Separation of Powers

In The Crown and the Courts , David C. Flatto traces the development of the idea of judicial independence in Jewish commentaries on the Scriptures – particularly Deuteronomy 17 – from the Second Temple and early rabbinic periods. These periods roughly span 400 BC to 300 AD. Flatto does not…

by James R. RogersDecember 11, 2020
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Advent

Zechariah and John: A Story in Names

A curious feature of the Infancy Narratives in the Gospel of Luke is the naming of John the Baptist. When the angel appears to Zechariah, he is instructed to give his promised son the name John (Luke 1:13). On the day of John’s circumcision, Luke tells us that “they [presumably…

by Rhys LavertyDecember 8, 2020

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Sacrificial Totem

In an article published in Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism , Tuomas Tepora “analyzed flag speeches given in Helsinki and published in newspapers alongside with other writings related to the subject in different media” during the years 1917-1945. Drawing on Durkheim's work on aboriginal totems, he drew a number of…

March 20, 2015
Baptism

Believe Your Baptism

Baptism is God's promise to and claim on the baptized. It demands response, a response of faith. Anything else is an insult to God. God tells the baptized, “You belong to me,” but some will say, “No, we don’t want to belong to you. We want to be our own…

March 20, 2015
Race

Franklin Graham and the Problem of Reaction

At the Theopolis site , A.K. Shauku examines Franklin Graham's response to recent racial conflicts in the US. Shauku writes in part: “Christians are called to be the peacekeepers and a redeeming influence upon society. We cannot do that so long as we allow ourselves to become partisans in a…

March 20, 2015

Apocalyptic Intertextuality

A fair bit of scholarship has been devoted recently to exploring the uses of Scripture in Revelation. This can have different focal points and effects on the reading. I am relying on Steve Moyise’s contribution to Hays and Alkier’s Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation . In his commentary,…

March 19, 2015
Music

Entrainment

“Entrainment,” writes Joshua Leeds, “concerns changing the rate of brain waves, breaths, or heard-beats from one speed to another” (40). Our bodies beat to certain rhythms, and these rhythms fall into sync with one another. When an external vibration hits our bodies, it affects our internal rhythms: “individually, we entrain…

March 19, 2015

Dionysian Jesus

The Supper is bread, food for life. The Supper is also wine, a sign of rest and completion, a sign of our inclusion in a new covenant, when priests can drink wine in the presence of God. Why wine? Because Jesus is the true Dionysus, the true God of the…

March 19, 2015

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