Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Can it be that it has been two whole years since I contributed a Theopolis Post! I had been pursuing the topic of integration: “Seeking Integration in a Fragmented World.” I had defined “integration,” simply, as creative putting together. I had posed that seeking it calls for a fundamentally integrative…
What is known as the miracle of the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” occurs in Mark’s Gospel in chapter 6. As with other gospel writers, Mark has a few different points to make as he moves through this story (included in all four gospel accounts) and its surrounding material. Three…
To begin with the source of this narrative: Since no human being was present to observe these events, we must assume that this narrative was revealed directly by God to a human author. There are three ways this might have happened. First, we might read, "God said to Abraham (or…
The serious Bible student cannot help but be struck by the deviousness of Jacob in Genesis 27. If one already expected some underhanded dealings from this twin-born-second whose name means “supplanter” and whose bargaining with his brother for the birthright in Genesis 25 seemed incredibly weighted in his own favor,…
From Barna stats to mainstream headlines, it seems as though the discordant nature of this last year has taken such a toll on churches in the United States that, for many, the injuries have been fatal. It has become a regular occurrence to hear about a congregation that continues to…
In The Bad News Bears (1976), a city councilman hires a washed-up minor league baseball player with a drinking problem to coach a little league team of leftover misfits. Underdog sports movies are usually full of sentimentalism and dramatic victories, but this film is a commentary on the failing dream…
Showing page 53 of 309
Showing page 8 of 43
This outline is the first for a series of sermons on “seasons of life.” Most of it is taken, shamelessly, from Jim Jordan’s wonderful study, From Bread to Wine , and from other things I have learned from Jim over many years. Galatians 4:1-11 INTRODUCTION The Old Testament is the…
Is the Green Knight in the Sir Gawain poem some kind of divine/Christ figure? Holly (green and red) is an emblem of Christ’s life-giving shedding of blood, and the Green Knight carries holly into Arthur’s court at the beginning. In fact, he becomes “holly” when he’s beheaded (blood on his…
This is an excerpt from a paper I have written for a discussion of the New Perspective for the Pacific NW Presbytery of the PCA: The NPP movement first began to take shape with the publication of Sanders?E Paul and Palestinian Judaism in 1977. The bulk of Sanders?Etreatise was an…
C.A. Bayly discusses the development of “imperial religions” and their globalization in his book on the Birth of the Modern World . He points out that the major world religions other than Christianity were transformed by their encounter with Christianity, and their response to that encounter. Of Hinduism in particular…
One of the issues currently being debated in the Reformed churches is the meaning of “grace.” Some have argued that the word should be restricted to specifically redemptive gifts and favors, which means that the word properly describes only God’s saving favor and gifts toward sinners. To say that Adam…
One of the issues currently being debated in the Reformed churches is the meaning of “grace.” Some have argued that the word should be restricted to specifically redemptive gifts and favors, which means that the word properly describes only God’s saving favor and gifts toward sinners. To say that Adam…
Showing page 2100 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
