Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Figure: Literary structure of the Garden narrative The Garden narrative describes God forming the adam , resting him in his presence, then provisioning for his appetites of food, vocation, and mate. It continues to describe a snake, the introduction of death, and humanity's expulsion from the garden. The pages of…
I’ve spent the last few years studying the theology of St. Irenaeus (d. circ. 200ad). In particular, I’ve been gripped by the way that Irenaeus consistently resisted the anti-body emphasis that emerged in later Christian theology. His eschatology is remarkably focused on the resurrection of the body, and the renewal…
Details of Jesus in Exodus 1:22-2:25 Although there are a great many Christ-types in the Old Testament, it is hard to overplay the obviousness of some that seem to necessarily rise to the top before others. One of these is Isaac, with his near sacrifice by his own father after…
What can we say about Cain's wicked sanctuary-city of Enoch? First that it was built with a brother's blood as its cornerstone. The Church is also built such, for Jesus was the younger brother of the whole Adamic race, slain by that company of older brothers because they hated Him.…
In Genesis 2:9 the ground brought forth trees good for food, delightful to view, and in two cases, life-giving or rule-bestowing. Adam, made of the ground (2:7), would by implication bring forth new trees, and thus trees and plants are among the symbols for human beings throughout the Bible. The…
One of the must fundamental teachings of the Bible and of the Christian religion is that man does not have life in himself. Man must get life from outside of himself, in order to maintain his life. The way this is done is through eating and drinking. Apart from life,…
Showing page 78 of 309
Showing page 1 of 43
INTRODUCTION Jesus has already warned that His coming and the mission of the Twelve divides families (10:21), and He returns to that theme at the end of the discourse (vv. 34-36). He is the Prince of Peace, but the peace He brings comes after He brings a sword. THE TEXT…
Jesus whispers. He speaks dark and hidden parables. But He instructs His disciples to shout out His words on the housetops (Matthew 10:26-27). This is the history of the church in a nutshell. A Pharisee traveling to Damascus is throne from his horse and Jesus speaks to Him, and the…
Matthew 10: I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. As we saw in the sermon this morning, Jesus distinguishes His disciples from the leaders of Israel as sheep from wolves. The Jewish leaders prey on the people, but the Twelve are supposed to take their place…
We often think about mission as the thing that happens after all the really important stuff is over and done. Jesus died, rose again, ascended, and gave the Spirit, and now that everything is finished, we start the mission. Mission is announcing what has already happened. There’s some truth to…
In a summary of the theology of Matthias Scheeben, von Balthasar notes that he “proposes a Christian theology of sacrifice which strongly rejects the Baroque theory of ‘destruction’ and returns to the wholly personal and spiritual concept of sacrifice of the Fathers, especially of Augustine.” Sacrifice is not essentially “destruction”…
Pelagius agreed with Augustine that sin cannot be a substance, since God doesn’t create evil. For Pelagius, this meant that sin cannot corrupt or wound or weaken human nature since “how could that which lacks substance have weakened or changed human nature.” Augustine’s response is to quote Scripture (Psalm 40),…
Showing page 1562 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
