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Writing

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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EcclesiologyTheology

The Theopolitan Vision

The following is excerpted from The Theopolitan Vision, the first volume of The Theopolis Fundamentals Series, available from Athanasius Press . I’m going to call you Theo or Thea. “Theo” is the name we use at the Theopolis Institute to describe the kind of man who can most benefit from…

August 5, 2019
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Trinitarian Ontology

In a 2014 essay in Theological Research , Giulio Maspero compares the “ontology of the First Principle” in classical Greek metaphysics and in Trinitarian theology. Both traditions link “being” with life, but Trinitarian theology deepens the connection by making “relation” essential to the “First Principle” in a way that ultimately…

July 29, 2019

Homosexuality in the Church

The church faces two major challenges to traditional understandings of biblical sexuality. First, many churches are in the middle of all-out war over basics of Christian sexual morality, especially homosexuality. Revisionists re-read Scripture and conveniently discover that the Bible doesn’t really condemn homosexual acts; or if it does, it’s because…

July 22, 2019

Welcome

As you can see, we've updated and upgraded our web site. For the first time in a long time, we've got a place where you can explore all things Theopolis. Our web articles are here, including Conversations, Theopolis blog articles, and thousands of my old blog posts. All our podcast…

July 18, 2019
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Holy City

An old Biblical Horizons essay, first published in 1993 . Calling Jerusalem the "holy city" comes so naturally to Christians that it comes as something of a surprise to realize how infrequently the phrase is used in Scripture. Not only is Jerusalem rarely called holy, but in the Old Testament…

July 3, 2019
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Alienated America

The past few years have seen a lot of analyses of what’s wrong with America. Few are more insightful or satisfying than Timothy Carney’s Alienated America , published earlier this year. An editor of the conservative Washington Examiner and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Carney sets out to…

June 26, 2019

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