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

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Epistemology

A Cheer for the Mystics

Mystical theologians are often unguarded, extreme, un-nuanced, pressing to the edges of heresy, sometimes beyond. Still, the mystics are worthy of study. Why? Many reasons. Unlike some late medieval and post-Reformation dogmaticians, mystical theologians are often instinctively and richly Trinitarian. Historical-critical approaches to Scripture left mystical theologians virtually untouched; mystics…

by Peter LeithartSeptember 2, 2013
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Literature

Shadow and Substance in Shakespeare's Venice

Portia of Belmont is a “lady richly left,” as Bassanio says of her in the first Act of The Merchant of Venice . Plus, she’s beautiful and wise. Suitors clamber to Belmont in hope. Her father knew it would be so, and in his will set up a fairy-tale test…

by Peter LeithartAugust 28, 2013
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Liturgy

Liturgy Traps

[fve]http://vimeo.com/72195198[/fve]

by James B. JordanAugust 26, 2013
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Deuteronomy

Victory Food

In the nature of the case, “the” Christian meditation on Deuteronomy 14:1-21 cannot be written. Meditation offers too many possibilities, opens too many doors. There is not one and only one correct set of associations for a Christian to consider when thinking of Deuteronomy 14:1-21. We could, for example, consider…

by Ralph Allan SmithAugust 21, 2013
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Romans

David's Sin and Israel's Salvation, Part I

Having retold the story of the cumulative sin of Israel leading to the great atonement on the cross, Paul then reemphasizes that, just as both Jew and Gentiles were locked into sin and judgment, now they are both justified by faith: Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded.…

by Mark HorneAugust 20, 2013
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Deuteronomy

You are what you eat

Deuteronomy 14 is full of allusions to events of Israel’s history and other portions of Scripture. What would an Israelite learn by mediation on these allusions? The answer, I believe, is at least fourfold. Faith, Worship, War For the ancient Israelite first hearing Moses’ sermon, or perhaps hearing it read…

by Ralph Allan SmithAugust 15, 2013

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Demarcating Science

Stephen Meyer’s magisterial Darwin’s Doubt examines the Achilles heel of Darwinian theory, the “Cambrian explosion.” He makes a compelling case that the phenomena cannot be explained within a standard Darwinian account. In the final chapters, he turns to an alternative, an ID explanation of the Cambrian explosion, in the course…

July 25, 2014

Falling Stars

Apocalyptic texts speak of stars falling from heaven. We moderns typically think of individual falling stars hurtling to earth, but the ancients thought of something else. In his Thyestes , Seneca’s Chorus describes the descent of the constellations, a disturbing possibility indeed: “Trembling, trembling are our hearts, sore smit with…

July 25, 2014

He Shall Crush the Head

Bible knowledge is at a low ebb, even among self-professed “Bible-believing Evangelicals.” What’s missing is not only knowledge of the details of the contents of the Bible but a grasp of its overall movement and shape. Joe Anderson and Tim Nichols of have provided a valuable service with their recent…

July 24, 2014
Shakespeare

Shakespeare Today

The Arden early modern drama guides serve as introductions to Shakespeare’s plays. Each volume focuses on a single play, and contains a timeline of the play and its most important productions, a brief stage and screen history, several original interpretative essays, resources for students, and extensive bibliography. Some of the…

July 24, 2014
Biblical Studies

Making Sense of Scripture

Adam Hamilton’s conclusions in Making Sense of the Bible are predictable. Is the creation story true? Yes, but the truth is theological not scientific. Was there really a flood and did Noah really save animals in an ark? Probably not; but the flood story is still true, since it teaches…

July 24, 2014

Dennetrida

R. Scott Smith takes aim at the fact-value dichotomy in In Search of Moral Knowledge . Along the way, he argues that naturalist materialism makes knowledge of reality impossible. David Dennett is his main target, but he does a nice little jiu-jitsu move that leaves Dennett indistinguishable from Jacques Derrida:…

July 24, 2014

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