Theopolis Logo

Writing

Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.

See all
james-coleman-642705-unsplash
Biblical Studies

The Literary Structure of the Whole Bible

In this essay we will think about how the whole Bible is structured as one Word of God. To begin with, there is only one Bible, not two. While we divide the Bible into Old and New Testaments, that division has no more meaning than divisions into chapters and verse,…

by James B. JordanMay 16, 2019
img_1689
Catholicity

Catholicity and Integrity

How should one badly bruised and inadequate church relate to another? (I am not addressing the blessed possessors of absolutely perfect churches, naturally.) I believe there are three things to bear in mind. First, we must be open to the values in other Christian traditions - even Roman Catholic and…

by James B. JordanMay 14, 2019
screen-shot-2019-05-09-at-2-51-07-pm
Chiasm

Fertile Meaning

The third and sixth day have a second creative act. Note the chiastic arrangement of the material in these special acts and the parallelism between them, see the figure below. The author arranges the description of each day as a chiasm. Each line in the chiasm is mated with a…

by Scott FairbanksMay 9, 2019
29994-adam-and-eve-in-the-garden-of-eden-800w-tn
Biblical Theology

Nakedness and Clothing

Now the two of them were naked, the man and his woman, and they did not sense shame (Genesis 2:25) The nakedness of Adam and Eve requires several comments. First of all, against those who think that nakedness is what God intended for humanity as a permanent estate, we have…

by James B. JordanMay 7, 2019
screenshot-2023-10-27-at-1-23-26-pm
Epistemology

Restoring the “Other” in Mother

I’ve been reflecting on the meaning of integration, and our longing for integration in a fragmented world. I’ve been connecting my own covenant epistemology further with the thought of scientist-philosopher Michael Polanyi, artist Makoto Fujimura, and Classical Christian metaphysician D.C. Schindler. In my last post , and now in this…

by Esther Lightcap MeekApril 30, 2019
sixteen-miles-out-al48tflf4e8-unsplash
Hermeneutics

Go Tell that Vixen!

Luke 13:31-33 is one of the strangest passages in the Gospel of Luke. It begins with a time note that sounds emphatic “At that very hour.” Then, we are told of Pharisees bringing a message that Herod wants to kill Jesus! In His answer, Jesus speaks of a three day…

by Ralph Allan SmithApril 23, 2019

Showing page 79 of 309

See all

Showing page 8 of 43

See all

Interruptive Word

David Nelson’s The Interruptive Word is a lucid exploration of the difficult theology of Eberhard Jungel, stressing, as Nelson’s subtitle has it, “the sacramental structure of God’s relation to the world.” At the center of Jungel’s theology is the claim that, in Nelson’s words, “God comes to the world by…

March 1, 2014

Speech, Space, Time

Rosenstock-Huessy argues in Speech and Reality that speech creates space and time: “Without speech, the phenomena of time and space cannot be interpreted. Only when we speak to others (or, for that matter, to ourselves), do we delineate an inner space or circle in which we speak, from the outer…

March 1, 2014

Poetry About Nothing

Deflating postmodern irony has been a long time coming. Donald Nichol sees it aborning already in the heyday of classicism, with Alexander Pope’s third, and last, great poem. ” The Rape of the Lock represents Pope’s acknowledgement of the triumph of style over substance – a mock-salute to the spirit…

March 1, 2014

Humble Champions

“What makes this team special?” a reporter asked UVA basketball coach Tony Bennett after his Cavaliers beat Syracuse to sew up the regular-season ACC championship. “Humility,” Bennett replied, then looked down and waited for the next question. He explained a moment later: His team plays together, doesn’t care who gets…

March 1, 2014
Technology

Outsourcing Romance

Evan Selinger reports at Wired on BroApp , which helps you manage relationships by sending automated messages to the object of your eternal devotion. BroApp’s creators describe it as “a ‘clever relationship wingman’ (their words) that sends ‘automated daily text messages’ to your significant other. It offers the promise of…

February 28, 2014

Other Worlds

Astronomers keep discovering undiscovered planets: “NASA . . . announced a torrent of new planet discoveries, hailing a ‘bonanza“‘of 715 worlds now known outside the solar system thanks to the Kepler space telescope’s planet-hunting mission. A new method for verifying potential planets led to the volume of new discoveries from…

February 28, 2014

Showing page 670 of 2212

Browse by Category

In Medias Res

Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.

Donate

Theopolis is nearly 100% donor-supported. Consider joining us on our mission.