Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Our creeds, taking cues from Matthew 28:18-20 and other biblical texts, speak of the order of the Trinity as “Father, Son, Spirit.” This order is evident in the order of redemption as well: the Father sends the Son, who ascends to heaven to receive and send the Spirit. Luke 1,…
The category of “relation” has long been central to Trinitarian theology, [1] but in recent theology it has become a transcendental, as many theologians have argued that relationality is the leading feature not only of divine life but of created life. [2] Human beings made in the image of the…
Listen to Trinity House President Peter Leithart discuss his article on the End of Protestantism with LCMS pastor Todd Wilken at Issues, Etc .
One of the keys to understanding the parable of the wheat and tares (Matthew 13) is to understand the time frame. Jesus is speaking in pictures and symbols about some period of history, but which? What’s the beginning, and what’s the end of the parable? Is Jesus talking about what…
Shakespeare wrote two tetrologies of English history, patriotically celebrating the Tudor monarchy by recounting its chaotic prehistory. Read in chronological order, Shakespeare’s English histories trace the depressing collapse of medieval politics, from the ineffectual but dignified medieval kingdom of Richard II, through the usurpation of Henry Bolingbroke, later Henry IV,…
The Heart of Liturgy What we call sacrament, the food-aspect of worship, is essential here. Biblically, sanctuary worship, or worship in the heavenlies, is always a “marriage supper,” always sacramental. The Papal Church made the Eucharist into a private act largely separated from the community of the church. Protestant churches…
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W illiam Johnstone observes in his study of Exodus and Chronicles that the Chronicler blames the death of Saul on the ma'al by which he ma'al ed against the Lord (95; 1 Chronicles 10:13-14). It's the same term used earlier in Chronicles, and in each case it “punctuates the decisive…
W illiam Johnstone ( Chronicles and Exodus ) offers an explanation for the nearly verbatim repetition a portion of the genealogy of Benjamin in 1 Chronicles 8:29-38 and 9:35-44. The repeated portion “concerns, on the one hand, the population of Jerusalem, and, on the other, the family of Saul.” Both…
W illiam Johnstone ( 1 & 2 Chronicles , 1.126-7) notes that the gatekeepers listed in 1 Chronicles 9 are “first and foremost . . . security guards,” responsible for “locking up at night and opening first thing in the morning (v. 27). Their settlements surrounded the sacred precincts for…
F orced to choose between Nestorianism and Monophysitism, Karl Rahner once wrote, “I would prefer to be an orthodox Nestorian.” Aaron Riches, who quotes this comment ( Ecce Homo , 9), thinks it a revealing admission. But not surprising: “On the one hand, it is a sign of the historical…
A nthony Vidler ( The Architectural Uncanny ), homelessness has been a leading trope for characterizing the modern world. Here's Marx in 1844: “We have said . . . that man is regressing to the cave dwelling, etc.—but he is regressing to it in an estranged, malignant form. The savage…
S peaking at a recent conference at Trinity School of Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, Michael Gorman observed that Paul's summary of the gospel tradition follows an alternating rhythm: Paul first refers to an event in the gospel account, then cites proof of that event. Jesus died; the proof of His…
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