Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
We have moved from death to new life, from Lenten darkness to Easter light. And while Easter Sunday may have come and gone, it's effects are continually with us. This season has brought with it several new relationships, events, and signs of growth for Theopolis. We have been networking with…
In The People's Work , a social history of Christian Worship, Frank Senn summarizes the developments of the medieval period with regard to the Eucharist. He begins by challenging the assumption that medieval society was held together by “the church.” He notes that the church was often divided and conflicted,…
The structure of the Bible resembles something which was grown rather than built, composed rather than assembled. Its employment of “structure-as-sign” at every level from micro- to macrocosmic leads to the conclusion that a hermeneutic worthy of Scripture requires not only training in history, art and music but also the…
For some in first-century Israel, Easter was anything but good news. It was a terrifying surprise. For the rulers and powers that put Jesus to death, the idea that He had been raised by some power beyond their control was chilling. Early in Luke’s gospel, we're told that Herod thought…
Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. (John 21:11) This is one of those texts in the Bible that many people puzzle over. It is not a puzzle…
God is not mocked, Paul says. God is mocked, says Matthew. Who’s right? The two are in perfect harmony, but to see that, we need to run through the passage again. We’ll see that at every point, the mockery is being turned against the mockers. At every point, mockery is…
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The church has not been a static entity, nor has the church's history been one of smooth organic growth. There are many continuities from Jesus and the apostles to the present, but there have been regular disruptions along the way, disruptions that radically changed the church's relation to the world…
John sees the Lamb surrounded by the 144,000 that were sealed on the forehead (Revelation 14:1). The company of the Lamb stands in contrast to the company of the beast. The worshipers of the beast were marked on the hand and the forehead, and the 144,000 are sealed on the…
Critics have offered wildly different assessments of the role of sex in the fiction of James Joyce. On the one hand, many hostile critics his work, especially Ulysses , attack him for obscenity and indecency. They regard sex as one of the main themes of Joyce’s work. This is often…
Sociologists working from various theoretical and political perspectives have worried that American society is fragmenting into two separate worlds. Our cities aren't single anymore. Cities are dual, and the tale of late modernity is a tale of two cities. Jock Young ( Vertigo of Late Modernity ) isn't convinced. He…
“You who were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ,” Paul tells the Gentile Ephesians (2:13). Jesus' blood is the sacrificial blood that makes a way of approach to God. “He Himself is our peace, who made both one and broke down the dividing wall by…
In an oracle against Edom, Jeremiah warns that the guilty will be sentenced to drink: “Behold, those who were not sentenced to drink the cup will certainly drink, and are you the one who will be completely acquitted? You will not be acquitted, but you will certainly drink it” (Jeremiah…
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