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Writing

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

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American Politics

Kingdom First

Whatever else the 2016 Presidential cycle has accomplished, it has brought the chasm between nationalism and globalism into sharp relief. Many see this divide as the issue of the campaign (Robert Merry) or of the century (Pat Buchanan). It seems to be a choice we have to make. Christians must…

by Peter LeithartJanuary 24, 2017
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Romans

God, Gift, Sacrament

Salvation is a gift. The righteousness of justification (Romans 5:17) and eternal life (Romans 6:23) are gifts freely offered. According to Risto Saarinen ( God and the Gift ), “God is directly called the giver 104 times [in Scripture], of which 42 are in John’s Gospel and John’s Letters. In…

by Peter LeithartJanuary 19, 2017
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Biblical Studies

Hear, O Israel!

In the last 40 odd years of studying the Bible, I have read more essays and commentaries on Deuteronomy 6:4 than I can recall. I have also more than twice changed my view on what should be the correct translation of Israel’s central confession. What is so complicated? After the…

by Ralph Allan SmithJanuary 17, 2017
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Biblical Theology

Brexit and the Binding of Satan (Part 5)

Satan is currently bound from gathering the nations in kingly rebellion so that Jesus might gather them in priestly unity. Everything which Scripture records for us, no matter how mundane or mysterious, exists as part of a process of growth to maturity. This transformation is achieved through relationships established by…

by Mike BullJanuary 13, 2017
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Church Calendar

Epiphany and Mission

God’s people are a missionary people, and this is not true only of the New Testament church. God called Abraham to bless the Gentiles through him, and one of Israel’s recurring sins was her failure to carry out this mission. Israel was supposed evoke praise from the Gentiles, but instead…

by Peter LeithartJanuary 5, 2017
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Discipleship

Readiness Is All

Are you ready for the New Year? Are you ready to follow Jesus wherever He takes you this year? Are you read to follow Him into the garden? Are you ready to stay at His side to be arrested, interrogated, tortured, crucified, buried? Are you ready to follow Jesus wherever…

by Peter LeithartJanuary 3, 2017

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Liturgy

Sabbath Threshing

Solomon built the temple on the threshing floor that David bought from Araunah the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24; 2 Chronicles 3). What might that mean? Grain is threshed when an animal walks over it, sometimes dragging a threshing sledge, to separate the grain from the chaff. Threshed grain is winnowed,…

October 23, 2015
Art

Life and Culture Series

These are remarks delivered to introduce conductor John Mason Hodges as the first Birmingham Life and Culture speaker. This is the first of what we hope will be an annual lecture on the arts and culture. Each year, we’ll bring a painter, musician, poet, sculptor, novelist, critic, architect, or scholar…

October 22, 2015

Two Tables

Jesus’ action in the temple was a symbolic enactment of the coming destruction of the temple. The Jewish leaders had turned what should have been a house of prayer for the Gentiles into a den of brigands. Jesus overturned the tables and chairs to dramatize what lay on the horizon…

October 22, 2015

Double Time in Othello

AC Bradley ( Shakespearean Tragedy ) points out that Othello has an unusual structure for a Shakespeare tragedy. The main conflict doesn't arise until the third act, and then the pressure and movement is relentless from that point to the end. In the other tragedies, the crisis emerges earlier, Act…

October 22, 2015

The Quadrigal Form of Christian Thought

The quadriga - the fourfold sense, consisting of literal, allegorical, tropological, and anagogical - isn't only a “method” for interpreting Scripture but a framework for interpreting everything . Two assumptions guide my reflections here. First, medieval biblical scholars insisted that biblical allegory and typology was not merely a method of…

October 22, 2015
Rosenstock-Huessy

Listening

Theories of language, Rosenstock-Huessy comments, focus almost exclusive attention on the speaker or writer, and almost none on the listener: “Our philology is built around the process of talking, speaking, writing.” Listening is emphasized in “military training for obedience, understanding to psychology, listening and learning to acoustics and education.” But…

October 21, 2015

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