Theopolis Logo

Writing

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

See all
andriy-nestruiev-gdbrwwh6doc-unsplash
Biblical Studies

Funerals and Flutes

Matthew 8-9 records three clusters of miracles, interspersed with snatches of Jesus’ teaching about various aspects of discipleship. Just as the Sermon on the Mount displays the authority of Jesus’ Word in teaching, these chapters display the authority of Jesus’ Word over sickness, uncleanness, the creation, demons, and death. In…

by Peter LeithartApril 17, 1992
michal-parzuchowski-w9uljjwg2fa-unsplash
Baptism

Daddy, Why Was I Excommunicated?

Since the early 1980s, several of the conservative Reformed Churches have debated and wrestled with the issue of paedocommunion (infant communion). The PCA and the OPC assigned study committees to examine the question, both of which produced useful reports both in support of and against the position. Though the debate…

by Peter LeithartApril 13, 1992
skyler-gerald-akljfvj5ym4-unsplash
Biblical Chronology

Chronologies and Kings, Part 9: Jehu, Hazael, and Assyria

(This issue of Biblical Chronology concludes a discussion of the Biblical and Assyrian chronologies, begun in previous posts. Click on the category link of "Biblical Chronology" above to see previous issues. Did Shalmaneser Know Jehu? Allis writes: "The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser contains, in addition to brief accounts of the…

by James B. JordanMarch 23, 1992
denise-jans-dpemksg59la-unsplash
American Culture

Arts and Play, Part 4

Movies Movies as an art form have a powerful impact because they take place in a dark room, on a large screen, with no distractions, and because they entail many of the arts: music, acting, choreography, design and color, etc. A movie can be an overwhelming experience for a young…

by James B. JordanMarch 23, 1992
sincerely-media-bhaswrjttzw-unsplash-2
Leviticus

The Ecology of the Tribute Offering

The Hebrew word translated as "grain offering" or "cereal offering" is minchah . Like the translation of `olah as "burnt offering," the translation of minchah as "grain offering" is somewhat deceiving, since minchah does not refer to grain or cereal. In liturgical contexts outside of Leviticus, in fact, the word…

by Peter LeithartMarch 13, 1992
sincerely-media-bhaswrjttzw-unsplash-2
Ascension

Skinned and Cut

"He shall then skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces" (Leviticus 1:6). The normal word ( `olah ) that is translated as "burnt offering" and "whole burnt offering" has nothing to do with either burning or wholeness. It is the noun form of a verb meaning "to…

by Peter LeithartMarch 13, 1992

Showing page 291 of 309

See all
See all

Divine humanity

Hamann opens his Will and Testament of the Knight of the Rose-Cross with “If God is supposed to be the origin all effects in great things and small, or in heaven and in earth, then every numbered hair on our head is as divine as the behemoth, that chief of…

September 20, 2008
Biblical Studies

Intoxicating reading

Augustine on John 2: “Read all the prophetic books without perceiving Christ: what will you find so insipid and so silly? Understand Christ there, and what you are reading not only becomes savory but intoxicates.” Hamann quotes this in his Aesthetica in nuce : Intelliges ibi CHRISTUM, non solum sapit,…

September 20, 2008
History

Politics of style

MacMullen again, on the style of late Roman communications (written in purple ink): “It was extremely conscious, the late descendant of centuries of rhetorical art, marked by many poetical tricks: avoidance of hiatus or of inelegant words; metrical terminations of sentences and clauses; variation through an apparently limitless vocabulary of…

September 18, 2008
History

Most Holy Place

Ramsay MacMullen describes the proper approach to a late Roman emperor: “Few saw him, for few were admitted to his presence. Properly searched first for weapons, one passed through rows of guards and rows of ponderous pillars to some more specially solemn portal, opening to a hall fifty, a hundred,…

September 18, 2008
History

Reverse Revisionism

Leon Aron reviews Putin’s views on Russian history in a lengthy article in TNR (September 24). At a conference, for instance, Putin admitted that there have been “problematic pages in our history,” but goes on: “what state hasn’t? And we’ve had fewer of such pages than some other [states]. And…

September 17, 2008
Literature

Sanctimony and Resistance

Tom Stoppard’s Rock ‘n’ Roll is based on the arguments between Vaclav Havel and Milan Kundera concerning the way Czech intellectuals should pursue resistance to Soviet domination. One exchange in the play draws on a letter that Havel circulated asking Gustav Huzak to release Milan Hubl and others who were…

September 17, 2008

Showing page 1469 of 2212

Browse by Category

In Medias Res

Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.

Donate

Theopolis is nearly 100% donor-supported. Consider joining us on our mission.