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

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Hermeneutics

The Complexity of Biblical Allusion

There is no question about the fact that the book of Deuteronomy is full of literary allusion. But there is a serious problem, even a paradox, of understanding how that allusion works. To begin with, if we assume that Deuteronomy was written by Moses — with some editorial emendations added…

by Ralph Allan SmithJanuary 23, 2018
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Culture

The Artificial Resurrection

Genesis and Genetics in Blade Runner 2049 The power of science fiction, and what’s positive about it, is that you’re able to experience the worst-case scenario without actually having to live it. (Actor Ryan Gosling, who plays Officer “K”) (Warning: The following analysis contains spoilers for both Blade Runner films.)…

by Mike BullJanuary 18, 2018
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Biblical Studies

The Battle of Gog and Magog

The battle of Gog and Magog is found in Ezekiel 38-39. My purpose in this brief essay is to propound an explanation for this passage that I have not encountered in any of my commentaries, but that makes more sense to me than any other. I offer it here in…

by James B. JordanJanuary 16, 2018
resurrection

Deep Hope

I. Varlam Shalamov in Kolyma Tales describes his experience of the Gulag, where he spent more than a dozen of years. In a story titled The Life of Engineer Kipreev Shalamov reflects on the theme of hope in the life of a prisoner: “Hope always shackles the convict. Hope is…

by Bogumil JarmulakJanuary 11, 2018
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Biblical Theology

Abram’s 318 Men

Genesis 14:14 says that Abram mustered his trained men, “born in his house,” to rescue Lot, and gives their number as 318. It is clear that the precise number is provided for some reason, but what is it? S. Gevirtz notes that 318 is the sum of all the prime…

by James B. JordanJanuary 9, 2018
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Biblical Studies

The Flying Scroll

And he said to me, "What do you see?" And I answered, "I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits" (Zechariah 5:2). Immediately following his vision of the outpouring of the Spirit upon the restoration community (4:1-14), Zechariah saw a flying scroll. The…

by Peter LeithartJanuary 4, 2018

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Theology

McCarthy’s Proof

At the end of the film version of Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses , the principal character, Cole, asks whether God exists. Cole has been through a infernal trip to Mexico - his lover is taken away from him by her family, he watches a companion get shot, endures…

August 21, 2006
Theology

McCarthy’s Proof

At the end of the film version of Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses , the principal character, Cole, asks whether God exists. Cole has been through a infernal trip to Mexico - his lover is taken away from him by her family, he watches a companion get shot, endures…

August 21, 2006

Eucharistic meditation

2 Chronicles 20: Every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned with Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies. They came to Jerusalem with harps, lyres and trumpets to the house of the LORD. And the dread of…

August 20, 2006

Wedding Sermon

1 Corinthians 7:3-4: Let the husband fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife…

August 20, 2006

Baptismal meditation

Paul’s description of the armor of God draws on Isaiah 59, the description of God’s own armor. We deck ourselves in the same armor He does. But Paul is also referring to another set of garments found in the OT. In the OT, the high priest wore a breastplate and…

August 20, 2006

Exhortation

The Psalter is the church’s primary Hymnal, and what do we find when we pick up the Psalter? We learn that God establishes the righteous man like a tree, but drives the wicked away like chaff. Then we learn that God has installed His Son as King of kings, and…

August 20, 2006

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