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Writing

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

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Democracy

The Babylonian Unity of the Church

There are many legitimate reasons to lament the divided state of the church. Fleshly pride, theological hubris, sectarian rivalries are each in their own ways modern versions of the Galatian heresy, refusing table fellowship with brothers and sisters for whom Christ died. And denominations have frequently played the same role…

by Toby SumpterJune 23, 2015
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Theopolis News

Bogumil Jarmulak

Though Bogumil Jarmulak was not able to deliver his lectures on Jurgen Moltmann due to flight delays, he preached at Trinity Presbyterian Church on Sunday morning, June 14. He encouraged the church in how to deal with misery in this life, and pointed them to their only hope in life…

by Brian MoatsJune 18, 2015
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History

Christians, Liturgy, and the Past, 2

Connecting with the past within the present is a complicated endeavor. One of the most immediate challenges facing us is that of ensuring that, as Christians, our use of the past is undertaken in service of present faithfulness. The past is not a realm to which we retreat, but a…

by Alastair RobertsJune 18, 2015
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Theopolis News

Letter From Peter Leithart

Dear friend of Theopolis, Before he attended the Theopolis course on Holistic Mission during Easter term, 2014, Jonathan Sedlak lived with his family in the quiet, comfortable Milwau­kee suburb of Slinger, Wisconsin. An intensive week in Birmingham changed all that. Listening to missionary Wes Baker and hashing over readings and…

by TheopolisJune 16, 2015
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Architecture

The Crystalline Vision: Bauhaus and the Bible

“What is in the nature of these materials?” The Bauhaus, founded in Germany in 1919 by architect Walter Gropius, had a profound influence in every area of design, from graphics and typography to clothing, furniture and architecture. The institution was not so much a style as a method, its philosophy…

by Mike BullJune 11, 2015
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Books

The American Way of Being Church

​Russell Richey's ​Denominationalism collects some of the most important essays on its titled topic. The authors are a who's-who of 20th century American religious history: Winthrop Hudson, Timothy L. Smith, Sidney Mead, Richey himself, H. Richard Niebuhr and Martin Marty. Some are broad synthetic studies; others are more granular studies…

by Peter LeithartJune 10, 2015

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TheoUrban Dreams

The following was delivered as a Convocation Address at the beginning of the 2017-18 Theopolis Institute's Junior Fellows Program on August 14, 2017 . Theopolis is the embodiment of a dream. Our name expresses the contents of that dream. We dream of a polis , a city. Every city is…

August 15, 2017

Hearts Prepared

Hezekiah's Passover (2 Chronicles 30) has a prominent place in the Chronicler's account of his reign. As William Johnstone points out ( 1 & 2 Chronicles ), Hezekiah's reign moves out from the temple to the city to the nations. He reopens and purifies the house of Yahweh (2 Chronicles…

August 15, 2017

Welcome to Leithart

Welcome to Leithart the blog. For those who are coming to the blog for the first time, please allow me to introduce myself. I am Peter Leithart, President of the Theopolis Institute , a study center and leadership training program based in Birmingham, Alabama. After spending several decades in the…

August 14, 2017
Gratitude

Pillars of Gratitude

Philip Watkins ( Gratitude and the Good Life ) identifies three “pillars of gratitude.” These are components of gratitude as an emotional “trait,” as opposed to gratitude expressed in response to specific good received or as an emotional state: “These are presumed to be three subordinate facets that contribute to…

August 11, 2017

Inventing “Emotion”

No one before the twentieth century, writes Robert Solomon ( The Passions ), paid serious philosophical attention to the emotions. There's a good reason for that, writes Thomas Dixon ( From Passions to Emotions ): The category “emotion” didn't exist prior to the 19th century. Between 1800 and 1850, there…

August 11, 2017
Epistemology

Dehumanizing Skepticism

God made us to be knowers. We long to know. Esther Meek argues ( Longing to Know ) that the frustration of this desire is one of the effects of skepticism and relativism: “To be human is to make sense of experience. There are voices today that would discourage the…

August 11, 2017

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