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Writing

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

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Culture

Why We Should Jettison the “Strong Female Character”: (Part 1)

The trailer for the latest Star Wars movie, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story , was released last week. Following the success of the revival of the franchise in last year’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens , anticipation is unsurprisingly at a fever pitch. As in the case of The…

by Alastair RobertsMarch 6, 2018
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Epistemology

Seeking Integration in a Fragmented World: Integration Requires an Integrative Epistemology: Michael Polanyi

The word, “integration,” can sound abstract, technical, unhelpful. But as I represented it in my first installment on this matter , I take it instead to be the central desire of our lives. We long to integrate life, and to integrate ourselves. I offered as a preliminary definition, that integration…

by Esther Lightcap MeekMarch 1, 2018
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How to Worship

Worship as Ordination

Anyone who has read his Bible straight through has done it. Admit it. When you get to those parts in Exodus that deal with the instructions for and construction of the Tabernacle, your eyes glaze over and your mind begins to wander. Measurements, lists of materials, meticulous details about clothes…

by Bill SmithFebruary 27, 2018
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Biblical Theology

Bread and Cup

This article is a continuation of James Jordan's article, " From Bread to Wine ". We will here investigate the use of the word “cup” for the wine. I suggest that the cup itself corresponds to the firmament shell between heaven and earth, and that the liquid in the cup…

by James B. JordanFebruary 22, 2018
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Atonement

Streams in the Desert

And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered…

by Arthur KayFebruary 20, 2018
communion
Biblical Theology

From Bread to Wine

In the Bible, bread (and beer, usually translated “strong drink,” liquid bread made from grain) is priestly and wine is kingly and prophetic. Bread comes first and wine later. Bread is alpha food while wine is omega food. You eat bread in the morning and drink wine at night. Bread…

by James B. JordanFebruary 15, 2018

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Milk and Honey

Throughout the Pentateuch and into Joshua, the land of promise is a land “flowing with milk and honey.” After that, the phrase virtually disappears. It is used in the prophets to describe the land given to Israel after the exodus (Jeremiah 11:5; 32:22; Ezekiel 20:6, 15; the partial exception is…

April 13, 2009

Worshiping Tradition

Gregory Beale writes ( We Become What We Worship ) that by the first century, Judaism had turned its own tradition into an idol. Citing Paul’s claim that demons are behind the idols, he asks whether Israel too was incited to worship of tradition by demons, and rightly answers Yes:…

April 13, 2009

Blason of idols

Psalm 115:4-8 is as ironic a blason as Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130. Like many of the descriptions in the Song of Songs, the Psalmist begins from the head and moves to the feet, but instead of celebrating the beauty of the idols of gold and silver he focuses on their incapacity…

April 13, 2009

Indirection

Jesus never gives a straight answer. Tell us, his enemies demand, Are you the Christ? Frequently, He refuses to answer, and when He gives an answer, He says things like “You have said” and “You say that I am.” Maddening. Jesus could have pre-emptively silenced a century and more of…

April 13, 2009

Sermon notes

INTRODUCTION Jesus’ long day of battle in the temple began with three parables (Matthew 21:23-22:14 ) that condemned Israel ’s leaders. One by one, these leaders – Herodians, Sadducees, Pharisees ( 23:15 -40) – approach Jesus to trap Him, and one by one they are put beneath the feet of…

April 13, 2009
Literature

Hitting the Micro-target

Christensen quotes this stunning paragraph from Phillips, where a character muses on the dice-roll of artistic success: “Two months ago, she was raw and unblended; tonight she was reasonably effective; someday very soon she would be in danger of marbling over into a slick cast impression of herself. The target…

April 10, 2009

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