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Writing

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

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Apologetics

Do I Have to go to Church?

Imagine driving up to Canada and stopping at a restaurant to get a bite to eat. While you’re sitting at the table, an enthusiastic young man comes over to you and says in an excited voice, "Are you an American?" You reply, "Yes, I am." "Wonderful! I have so little…

by Mark HorneNovember 15, 1999
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Biblical Horizons

The Prayer of Manasseh

1 O Lord Almighty, God of our fathers, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and of their righteous posterity; 2 You who have made heaven and earth with all their order; 3 who have shackled the sea by Your word ofcommand, who have confined the deep and sealed it with…

by James B. JordanOctober 4, 1999
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Biblical Horizons

The Apocrypha: Bel and the Dragon

Part 1: 1When King Astyages was laid with his fathers, Cyrus the Persian received his kingdom. 2 And Daniel was a companion of the king, and was the most honored of his friends. 3Now the Babylonians had an idol called Bel, and every day they spent on it twelve bushels…

by James B. JordanOctober 4, 1999
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Church Government

Ministers and Ruling Elders Do Not Occupy the Same Office

This debate has been going on for some time. But with few exceptions, almost all explanations of Presbyterian church polity claim that a “church” (meaning a single local congregation) must be ruled by “a plurality of elders” of whom one may happen to teach and work full-time doing so. This…

by Mark HorneSeptember 2, 1999
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Biblical Horizons

The Apocrypha

I hope that those who are advocating reading more of the ancient, "classical" literature of the ancient, "classical" world, are also promoting the Apocrypha. I’m afraid that many Christians don’t realize what great literature much of the Apocrypha is. It is not, of course, inspired by God, and perhaps because…

by James B. JordanAugust 4, 1999
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Church Government

What is Presbyterianism?

PRESBYTERIANISM is a term referring to a system of government in the Church. It is commonly contrasted with Congregationalism and Episcopalianism. Presbyter is a Greek word that is translated as “elder” in our English New Testaments. Thus, Presbyterianism is commonly defined as “rule by elders.” This is a misleading definition.…

by Mark HorneJune 5, 1999

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AdventChristmas

Sons of God

Athanasius summed up a patristic truism when he said, "God became man so man might become God." All the Church Fathers believed this. So, in different ways, did medieval Christians and Zwingli and Bucer and Calvin and Jonathan Edwards and John Wesley. As Carl Moser has argued, deification is a…

December 22, 2025
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AdventChristmas

Advent is a Joke

A promise is given to Rebekah and Isaac, “the older will serve the younger,” and a child is born. Isaac, the son of laughter, brings both a beast and a deceiver into the world. He was not only a cause for laughter at his conception; he also delivered a punchline…

December 3, 2025
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Political Theology

Where's the Church?

When I read Christian Nationalists, Catholic post-liberals, communitarians, and others, I feel like the elderly woman in the old Wendy's commercial. She bit into a burger, got a mouthful of bun, and shouted, "Where's the beef?" I nibble on essays, and books, and tweets, get a mouthful of ethnicity, and…

December 2, 2025
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Keeping our Heads

When I was a boy, my mother hung a framed copy of Rudyard Kipling's "If" at the foot of my bed. I'm sure it was the first poem I memorized. Kipling's opening lines come to mind a lot lately: If you can keep your head when all about you Are…

November 19, 2025
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Biblical Studies

The Bible and the Middle East

Does Bible study matter - I mean, in the real world? Who cares what anyone thinks of Adam or Abraham, whether you're pre-, a-, or post-mil, when missiles are flying from Israel to Iran and back? Yes, Bible study matters, especially in the midst of today's war in the Middle…

November 7, 2025
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MasculinityWorship

Battle Prep

We’ve said it before at Theopolis: young men are in trouble. Our boys are increasingly addicted to tech and pornography, trading tangible, earthly pleasures for gnostic, disembodied simulations. And even those who aren’t enslaved to explicit pornography often live in a near-constant stream of cheap stimulation: swipes, clips, memes and…

November 5, 2025

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