Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Where do we go from here? Depending on one’s perspective, the American story can plausibly be interpreted in different ways. Looked at from past to present , we can see a great deal of continuity from medieval Christendom and the Reformation to America’s founding. The War for Independence, after all,…
Click HERE for Part 1 Civic Religion: American or Christian? We have already traced out the basic contours of the shift in America from an ecclesiocentric, theocratic social order to a secular one. Building on Locke and Hobbes, the Enlightenment accomplished an astonishing coup of Christendom. That victory for the…
Author’s Introductory Note: Engaging in broad historical interpretation as I am about to do is always risky. Necessarily, one “stylizes” history by simplifying, over generalizing, and stereotyping. But the narrative qualities of history are not simply due to the imposition of human rationality upon brute facts; rather history is always…
A. Repentance to life involves endeavoring to believe real hard that you’re saved. reject infant baptism. stop watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. walk with God in all the ways of his commandments. B. What is necessary so that no sinner may expect to be forgiven unless he does it? Only…
The machine works mechanically and it is flawless. Slander/libel a group of Presbyterian ministers as “Romanist” because robes and James 2 are no worse than praying to Mary or relying on purgatory to pay for unconfessed sins. Drive off anyone who disagrees. Of that number, there may be a tiny…
If we take as a starting point the Tribal / Monarchical / Empire model, we can then add to it the Late Empire Phase. The particular ‘marker sin’ of Empire is false intermarriage, which signifies pluralism and syncretism. Empires by definition are “cosmopolitan” dominated by cities, high culture, many cultures,…
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The incident with the “ruler” in Luke 18 begins with a question about how to inherit eternal life, and ends with the promise of “eternal life” (v 30). Along the way, Jesus has radically transformed the path to eternal life. Jesus does not say that one inherits life by doing…
Kenneth Bailey helpfully emphasizes that Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the publican takes place in the temple, and he suggests convincingly that it is set during a public worship service. The fact that both men go up to the temple at the same time, and the fact that they…
Sermon outline, Feb 8: INTRODUCTION As we saw last week, Luke 17:11 begins a new stage of Luke’s account of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, one that comes to an end in 19:48. This large section is divided into two subsections, 17:11-18:30 and 18:31-19:48. These two subsections are closely parallel to…
Here’s an ouline for a lecture on Renaissance and Modernity: Renaissance and Modernity Credenda/Agenda History Conference Pre-Conference Lecture February 5, 2004 Peter J. Leithart I. Assessments of the Renaissance and modernity. A. What is “modernity”? Slavoj Zizek in The Puppet and the Dwarf : “One possible definition of modernity is:…
The fact that the NT uses a political term, “kingdom of God,” to describe the salvation that Jesus achieves is puzzling to moderns. Part of the resolution to that problem is to recognize, as I’ve argued elsewhere, that the Bible treats “salvation” as a political issue. The other part of…
The fact that the NT uses a political term, “kingdom of God,” to describe the salvation that Jesus achieves is puzzling to moderns. Part of the resolution to that problem is to recognize, as I’ve argued elsewhere, that the Bible treats “salvation” as a political issue. The other part of…
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