Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Jamie Soles is the reason I know my way around a guitar. When my guitar teacher put the sheet music for Eine Kleine Nachtmusick in my fourteen-year-old hands, I balked. He gave me “Foggy Mountain Breakdown.” I learned half of it. At home, I ignored my teacher’s instructions and tugged…
This is a tough era for mothers. Regard for mothers, while it is always booming in some circles, is decidedly lacking in the prevailing winds of the milieu. In high demand by contrast is contribution to the work force, being a consumer, and basic economic survival, often as a solitary…
After the dark quiet of the year’s beginning, I return now to pick up the threads of my reflection on integration. This is my own personal inquiry, and for me it is no academic exercise but rather the forefront of my personal quest for the real. My hope is that…
The chiastic structure of The Hobbit we considered in the previous essay is highly suggestive of what might lie in store for The Lord of the Rings saga. It is undoubtedly the case that J. R. R. Tolkien was a literary craftsman. It may even be the case he is…
Structure plays an important part of any literary work, whether poetry or prose. It adds to the beauty and depth of the work and allows insight to be gained about what the author is trying to communicate. The question that concerns us here is whether or not there exists an…
Can we learn to communicate from an outside intelligence? Spoiler Alert! If you have not yet seen the movie, this article may provide you with a great deal more information than you wished to know at this point. Since the 1999 film The Matrix received careful scrutiny on many fronts…
Showing page 81 of 309
Showing page 7 of 43
A rabbinic text ( Avot de Rabbi Natan , 6) reads: Once, as Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai was coming forth from Jerusalem, Rabbi Joshua followed him and beheld the temple in ruins. “Woe unto us,” Rabbi Joshua cried, “that this, the place where the iniquities of Israel were atoned for,…
In an article on temple Christology in John , Mark S. Kinzer devotes a few illuminating pages to Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus. Citing Raymond Brown, he points out that the dialog is set in the middle of a chiasm that includes extensive treatment of Jesus as the temple: A. First…
Francis Moloney ( Signs and Shadows , 147-8) has this nice comment on Jesus’ conflict with the Jews during the feast of rededication (John 10): “Jesus, who stands before ‘the Jews’ in the portico of Solomon in the Temple, points to himself and claims that he is the visible presence…
In a brilliant paragraph ( The Mystery of the Temple ), Congar summarizes the synoptic indications that Jesus is Himself the Presence. “When two or three gather, I am in the midst” (Matthew 18:20) attributes to Jesus the place and role Jews assigned to the Shekinah. At the transfiguration, a…
A friend and former student, Katy Cummings, writes with some thoughts on how to take Christmas music back from the sentimentalists. The rest of this post is from Katy. Part of the problem with Christmas carols is that, as the kerygma of Linus has testified, Luke 2 has become the…
It took 46 years to build this temple, the Jews object to Jesus. And you’ll raise it up in three days? Clearly, the 46-year period refers to the building. Or maybe not. In his Commentary on John , Aquinas summarizes the view of Augustine who says in his Book of…
Showing page 820 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
