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Writing

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

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Liturgy

The Temple Singers

Who were the company of singers who sang in the Temple built by Solomon? I think many people might answer “the Levitical singers.” That is not correct, because the Levites were not allowed inside the Temple; only the priests were. The Levitical choir and orchestra performed for Yahweh outside the…

by James B. JordanJuly 2, 2015
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Homosexuality

After Obergefell - A Pastoral Letter

Dear Congregation, Social media is awash with rants for and against the ruling from the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) yesterday regarding homosexual marriage ( Obergefell v. Hodges ). My contribution on Facebook was simply to quote relevant sections of the dissents written by the four judges in the minority. Even though…

by Jeff MeyersJuly 1, 2015
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Biblical Law

Law and Imagination

After the Civil War, the hobbled nation and fractured races looked about for leadership; animosity was high and envy was crouching at the door. Booker Taliaferro Washington, up from slavery, surveyed the rising tension and injustice, foreseeing civil unrest and chafing inequalities, eschewed, remarkably, a legislative remedy and advised a…

by Remy WilkinsJune 30, 2015
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Homosexuality

They Played the Flute for Me - But I Couldn't Dance

The ruling on Obergefell v. Hodges “came down” on Friday morning, June 26, 2015, like a bolt from Zeus. Many who refuse to bow to the dictates of our Olympians will write trenchant legal, theological, and cultural/political analyses of the court’s ruling. What I’m comfortable contributing to the historical record,…

by Jonathan BarlowJune 29, 2015
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American Culture

After Obergefell

Orthodox Christianity has lost all cultural potency in the U.S. No one defending traditional marriage before the court dared raise the fundamental question: Who creates marriage, God or the state? Theology has no public standing, no persuasive force in the culture at large. Obergefell is another nail in the coffin…

by Peter LeithartJune 27, 2015
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Poetry

Dust of Snow

One will rarely come upon a classical allusion in a Robert Frost poem. His poetic scheme was to follow the speaking patterns of common folk, to use their words and images to achieve his point. Despite this simplicity, there is a depth and richness to his poetry that can be…

by Remy WilkinsJune 25, 2015

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Suburban Ponzi Scheme

Charles Marohn, Jr. ( Thoughts on Building Strong Towns, 1 ) calls suburbanization a "grand experiment" in urban planning and growth. His less neutral description is that it's a "Ponzi scheme." Since World War II, suburbanization has occurred in several phases. First, "transfer payments" from state and federal government funded…

January 25, 2018

Jonah, Jews, Gentiles, Part 2

As it turns out, Jonah is not very successful at flight. He goes down, down, down, but as he descends he continues to witness as a prophet. When the Lord throws a storm on the sea, the sailors wake Jonah to ask him to call on his god for help.…

January 24, 2018

Jonah, Jews, Gentiles, Part 1

The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Ammitai, and instructed him to go to Nineveh to cry out against it. Nineveh is a great city, the capital of the Assyrian empire. Assyria is the rising power in Jonah’s day, and it is a cruel empire, known…

January 23, 2018

Anti-Hegel

Mark Lilla devotes a chapter of The Shipwrecked Mind to an exposition of the thought of Franz Rosenzweig, setting him in the context of the 20th-century revolt against Hegel. It was, on the one hand, a revolt against 19th-century Hegelian conceptions of history: "Throughout the nineteenth century, Hegel had been…

January 23, 2018

Calendrical Patterns in 2 Chronicles

At various points, 2 Chronicles indicates the month during which some event occurred. The dates tie the events to moments in Israel's liturgical calendar. 2 Chronicles 5:3 is explicit. Solomon assembles "all the men of Israel" to Jerusalem "at the feast, that is the seventh month." At the end of…

January 22, 2018

Storied Bodies

The next time you have a space 15 minutes, treat yourself to the Wingfeather Saga short film on Youtube. It's a quarter hour of sheer delight. One of the most arresting things about the segment is the way it provides rich, mysterious backgrounds for the characters. The characters live in…

January 19, 2018

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