Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
This essay is adapted from my articles in Theopolis’s In Medias Res as a series of Holy Week meditations. Like many celebrities such as Kanye or Beyoncé or Adele, Josquin des Prez (d. 1521) was often known only by his first name, in his own time as now. “Josquin” is…
Sight is a major theme in the scriptures. The church has long identified sight’s relationship to the future fulfillment of the eschaton. As Paul says, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1 Cor 13.12). Sight is associated with…
What is the chief end of man? —yes, to glorify God and enjoy him forever. But how ought man–and all creation–so glorify him? I propose a Theopolitan addition to the catechism, question and answer number 1.5, begun in the last question and answered as follows: Earth’s inhabitants were created to…
Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. Genesis 49:21 Frederick Buechner once said, “We move into the extraordinary by way of the ordinary.” In poetry, this happens by way of a compressed code of analogs; often, two or more very ordinary things begin to reveal something that…
The evangelical milieu of America has often lost a vision of the fruit of repentance. We tend to simplify repentance by asking for forgiveness. After all, Jesus tells Peter to forgive 70 times 7. This verse must be paired with Paul’s scoffing at the question: why not sin more so…
I. The hemorrhaging woman. En route to Jairus’ house, Jesus is touched by a woman with a hemorrhage of blood (Matt 9:18–26; Mk 5:21–34; Lk 8:40–48). The story is one that many of us know very well. She has been yoked to her illness for twelve years, all of her…
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Tertullian wrote “The Passover provides the day of most solemnity for baptism, for then was accomplished our Lord’s baptism, and into it we are baptized . . . After that, Pentecost is a most auspicious period for arranging baptisms, for during it our Lord’s resurrection was several times made known…
The sequence of assertions in Titus 3:5-7 is intriguing: God saved us according to His mercy By the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Spirit poured out on us through Jesus So that being justified by grace We might be heirs of eternal life. Let’s stipulate that the…
DG Hart gives this summary of Nevin’s views on the church as ark: “In Nevin’s scheme Christian salvation played out really and concretely in history, in the form of the church, and ways not simply an abstract covenant transacted in the Godhead before all time. With Christ and his presence…
It has become common among NT scholars to insist that Jesus was crucified by the Romans. This is certainly true in the sense that crucifixion was a Roman form of execution, and also highlights the important political dimension of Jesus’ death. It is also true, as the hymn expresses it,…
INTRODUCTION As Waltke points out, the opening verses of chapter 14 are chiastically arranged: A. Wise, Fool, walk, vv. 1-2 B. Speech, v. 3 C. Industry, v. 4 B’. Speech, v. 5 A’. Wise, fool, go/walk, vv. 6-7. Waltke notes that the first part of the arrangement highlights connections between…
Throughout the OT, worshipers drew near to God moving from east to west, returning to Eden. The Christian church reversed this, so that Christian worshipers enter by the west door and face east during worship. Is this change justified? What does it signify? No doubt many things, but this at…
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