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

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evangelists
Matthew

Dating Matthew, (Part 1)

When might the Gospel according to Matthew have been written? Of course, any answer can only be speculation, but that does not mean we are reduced to groundless opinion. In this series of articles I point the way to an approach different from the general consensus among scholars today which…

by Ralph Allan SmithNovember 22, 2016
hebrew-manuscript-3
Hermeneutics

Synopticity, (Part 2)

In my first essay on “synopticity” I offered a rather rough definition of the phenomenon and important, though not exhaustive examples. In this essay, I want to introduce broader aspects of the phenomenon of “synopticity.” The first example that I have in mind is conventional stories, stories of different historical…

by Ralph Allan SmithNovember 17, 2016
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Ascension

Brexit and the Binding of Satan, Part 4

Since the judgment of Babel was followed by the initiation of the circumcision, the impending end of the circumcision in AD70 explains the significance of the first century miracle of foreign tongues. Except for a few Aramaic “teasers” in the book of Daniel, the Word of God was monolingual and…

by Mike BullNovember 15, 2016
four-evangelists
Hermeneutics

Synopticity, (Part 1)

To the best of my knowledge “synopticity” is not a word used in theology or Biblical studies, but it seems an appropriate word to describe the kind of phenomena associated with the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These three Gospels tell essentially the same story with significant — sometimes…

by Ralph Allan SmithNovember 10, 2016
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Humor

Learning to Laugh

Humor is a funny thing. It is altogether familiar yet also mysterious. What makes us laugh? Why do we find things funny? There are academic fields of study dedicated to discovering what makes things humorous. These academicians even have a journal entitled International Journal of Humor Research . No joke.…

by Bill SmithNovember 8, 2016
chaucer
Literature

Flawed Means of Grace: Liturgy in The Pardoner's Tale

Out of all the characters in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales , the Pardoner has been called the “one lost soul.” The pious Parson, who closes out the collection of tales with a sermon on the seven deadly sins and how a sinner can absolve himself of them, connects the…

by Christian LeithartNovember 3, 2016

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Biblical Studies

Blogging Toward Sunday

Another lectionary meditation at The Christian Century : http://www.theolog.org/blog/2008/06/blogging-towa-4.html

July 1, 2008

Sermon notes

INTRODUCTION Jesus again withdraws from Israel (cf. 14:13 ), and this time, following the trail of Elijah (1 Kings 17:9), goes into the notorious region of Tyre and Sidon ( 15:21 ). There He heals a Canaanite woman’s daughter and feeds four thousand. THE TEXT “Then Jesus went out from…

June 30, 2008

Eucharistic meditation

Matthew 15:2: The Pharisees asked, Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread? Matthew 15 and the first part of chapter 16 return again and again to the subject of food. The Pharisees ask Jesus about washing…

June 29, 2008

Baptismal exhortation

1 Corinthians 6:9-11: Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? . . . Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.…

June 29, 2008
History

Social objects

Fabian links the ocularcentrism and spatialization of Ramism with the social science tendency to regard its object of study as, well, objects: “Once the source of any knowledge worthy of that name is thought primarily to be visual perception of objects in space, why should it be scandalous to treat…

June 28, 2008
History

Grenzwissenschaft

Anthropology, Fabian says, is border control: “It patrols, so to speak, the frontiers of Western culture. In fact, it has always been a Grenzwissenschaft , concerned with the boundaries: those of one race against another, those between one culture and another, and finally those between culture and nature.” Fabian thinks…

June 28, 2008

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