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Ascension

Ascension and Eucharist

It’s a simple point, obviously biblical and creedal: Jesus of Nazareth ascended into heaven as the God-man, and He remains the God-man in all his specific particularity from now to the end. He is Jesus the Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Duh! But Douglas Farrow shows in his…

by Peter LeithartMay 27, 2013
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Theopolis News

Register for Trinity Term Class

You can now register for the very first Trinity House intensive class, "How to Read the Bible," taught by James Jordan and Peter Leithart. There will be a kick-off welcome for students on the evening of Sunday, August 25, and the class will be held at Trinity Presbyterian Church ,…

by Peter LeithartMay 22, 2013
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Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy as Narrative-Law

This series of essays will address the food laws in Deuteronomy 14:1-21. To some, this may seem like a work of supererogation. After all, why should a Christian be interested in outdated “laws” from the book of Deuteronomy? I hope to show that meditation on this portion of Scripture is…

by Ralph Allan SmithMay 20, 2013
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Isaiah

Apocalyptic Patience

This essay was first published in 2011 in Credenda/Agenda . Isaiah 24 begins the section of Isaiah known as the “little apocalypse.” It’s a good name for this chapter. It’s a text of terror. The world is coming apart at the seams. The earth is emptied; and not only that,…

by Peter LeithartMay 15, 2013
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Biblical Studies

Anti Anti-Supercessionism

This article was first published in 2010 in Credenda/Agenda . In recent years, mainstream theology has begun to recognize the disaster that followed from the Marcionism of classical liberalism. R. Kendall Soulen is a leading figure in efforts to restore the importance of the Old Testament to Christian theology. In…

by Peter LeithartMay 13, 2013
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Deuteronomy

Law and History: How to Read the Law of Moses

This is the last in a series of studies on Deuteronomy 22:30-23:8. In this series, I have offered an interpretation of Deuteronomy 22:30-23:8 which suggests that a simple surface reading of the text does not do justice to Moses’ or God’s intention, that the larger historical and legal context in…

by Ralph Allan SmithMay 8, 2013

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Accommodation

As Markus Barth saw it, Bultmann was Protestant accommodation gone to seed: “Bultmann’s conception rests on the thesis that visible miracles (signs) are only a concession to man’s weakness, and that the appearances of the risen Christ are, likewise, a concession to the weakness of the Apostles. But . .…

September 4, 2009
Theology

First principles

In his commentary on the Sentences, Thomas says that “The science [of theology] develops from these first principles [of faith] and also includes the universal [natural] principles. It possesses no means to prove them, but only to defend them against detractors.” It’s the comparison that’s arresting: “Just as no artist…

September 4, 2009
Philosophy

Dreamtime

My son had a dream last night. There was some mayhem and some police action, and the dream ended with him hearing a police siren. He woke up and his alarm was going off. What happened? Two possibilities, as far as I can see. The first is that he had…

September 4, 2009

Jacob the priest

When Rebekah sends her younger son to her husband, she clothes him in goat skins (Genesis 27:15-16). To this point in Genesis, the only other people to be clothed were Adam and Eve, clothed with skins as they left Eden (3:21). Rebekah stands in the place of Yahweh to “invest”…

September 1, 2009

Breaking rhythm

Leviticus 8-9 are organized by repetition of phrases about Yahweh’s commandments. Everything in the ordination rite is done “as Yahweh commanded Moses” (8:5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 29, 36; 9:6, 7, 10, 21). It works: When Israel does as Yahweh commands, the glory appears and eats the ascension and the…

September 1, 2009

Liberal theology

Evan Almighty is amusing in spots, but often cheesy, preachy, and predictable. But it does have one of the best put-downs of liberal theology I’ve seen anywhere. On God’s instructions, Evan Baxter has built a gigantic ark in the empty lots near his new DC-area home, endured the ridicule of…

September 1, 2009

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