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

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Advent

5 Reasons I Don't Like Advent

First, I love my Christmas songs. This is how I think of it: the season of Advent gets in the way of singing what I want to sing. How can you not listen to Nat King Cole in December? Or Bing Crosby, Harry Connick Jr., and Amy Grant? Even though…

by Caleb SkogenDecember 16, 2021
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Covenant

Grandparenting and the Transcendent Summons

Introduction Imagine the stereotypical American grandparents. Once you have the outline, start filling in the details. What picture emerges? Maybe something like what Ogden Nash said, “When grandparents enter the door, discipline flies out the window.” Or maybe the oft-repeated assertion that it’s the grandparent’s job description “to spoil the…

by Jason CherryDecember 14, 2021
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Deuteronomy

The Audacity of Lament

Hundreds of generations of ancient Israelites grew up as children of Abraham, inheritors of the covenant—the promises of God. These promises were more than nice bumper stickers or framed photos to cover empty space in their homes–these promises were at the heart of their very identity–individually and collectively. Genesis “I…

by Zach MccartneyDecember 9, 2021
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Hermeneutics

Barren Worlds

Aliens and Sojourners When the question “Is there life on other planets?” is asked, even the best theologians can only reply, “The Bible doesn’t tell us.” Well, in truth, the Bible does tell us, but only if we are paying attention. …and there was not a man to till the…

by Mike BullDecember 7, 2021
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John

Jesus’ Search for a Wife

John runs a theme throughout his gospel that bubbles under the surface—Jesus is searching for, and finding, a wife. John launches into the narrative proper with a statement of where he’s going. “On the third day there was a wedding” (John 2.1) is about as good an example of flash…

by Tim SuffieldNovember 30, 2021
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Touch

I have come to believe that a great many people are almost too weak to repent in any very open way. There must first be some level of healing. In some cases, including biblical ones, there is not even any evidence of faith on the part of the recipients of…

by Richard BledsoeNovember 23, 2021

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History

Money, Magic, and Signs

David Hawkes reviews a book on Literature and Economics in the Age of Milton in the April 2 TLS , and has this to say about the early modern suspicion of attempting to “do things with words”: “The influx into Renaissance Europe of precious metals from America, and the consequent…

April 19, 2004
History

On Books

David McKitterick ‘s Print, Manuscript and the Search for Order, 1450-1830 describes the move from manuscript to book as a gradual process rather than a sudden revolution. According to the reviewer in the TLS , McKitterick points out that books and manuscripts were not separated in library catalogues or apparently…

April 19, 2004
History

Goddesses in the Middle Ages

Robert Lerner reviews Barbara Newman ‘s God and the Goddesses: Vision, Poetry, and Belief in the Middle Ages in the March 19 issue if the TLS . Newman’s book analyzes the female deities and allegorical figures of medieval literature and belief, including Nature, Lady Love, Holy Wisdom, and Mary. As…

April 19, 2004

Luther on Justification

Robert Jenson has a brief but very challenging comment on Luther’s views on justification in the Fall 2003 issue of the Westminster Theological Journal (which, incidentally, under the editorship of Peter Enns is promising to be a lively forum of debate). Responding to Carl Trueman ‘s critique of the new…

April 19, 2004
Economics

Hayek

Francis Fukuyama reviews Bruce Caldwell ‘s new biography of Hayek in the Spring 2004 issue of The Wilson Quarterly . According to Caldwell, Hayek’s argument against a managed economy was basically an epistemological one: “There are limits to rationality, and what any individual knows tends to be local in nature.…

April 19, 2004
Media

McLuhan and Teilhard

Tom Wolfe has a fascinating sketch of the life and work of Marshall McLuhan in the Spring 2004 issue of The Wilson Quarterly . McLuhan converted to Catholicism during his studies, and Wolfe suggests that McLuhan’s greatest inspiration was a hidden one, Teilhard de Chardin . Wolfe writes, “Regardless of…

April 19, 2004

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