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Writing

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

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Pastoral Ministry

Rural Church Growth

I've pastored a very rural church for well over a decade. Our town has about 1,000 people and will never grow until Jesus returns. 38 people attend our worship on Sundays. Here's a quick list of what we’ve done to grow our church, and what I’ve done to survive pastorally.…

by TheopolisAugust 10, 2017
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Art

Letter to a Young Artist

Thanks for sharing so honestly about your current crisis of creativity. I totally understand and relate to that; it’s happened many times in my musical life thus far, and I’ve begun to accept it as a normal rhythm of the creative process. I actually went through a serious dry spell…

by Joel ClarksonAugust 8, 2017
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Biblical Theology

Stones and Fruit: Divination and Procreation – (Part 3)

The Broken Stones of Israel At Sinai, the tablets of the Law of Moses were broken and restored. The Old Testament is a history of “new covenants,” including that promised in Jeremiah and fulfilled in Zechariah. Ultimately, the vertical Oath and the horizontal Sanctions met in the death of Jesus…

by Mike BullAugust 3, 2017
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Isaiah

God's Market, the Church

Woe to the sinful nation. Woe to those who enlarge their estates and build their portfolios. Woe to the drunks. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. Woe to the proud who are wise in their own eyes. Woe to Congressmen who pass unjust laws and to…

by Peter LeithartAugust 1, 2017
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Romans

In the Flesh: Then and Now

The interpretation of Romans 7:7-25 is notoriously difficult. Good scholars disagree on many aspects of the passage, but the central interpretative difficulty concerns the identity of the “I.” Is Paul referring to himself? Is Paul referring to himself pre- or post-conversion? Does the “I” refer to Adam? Is the “I”…

by Bill SmithJuly 27, 2017
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How to Worship

The Minister's Uniform

You board the Metra train at Arlington Heights station one afternoon, heading to downtown Chicago for some sight-seeing. As the train departs from the station, a man in jeans, a striped t-shirt, and a Kansas City Royals baseball cap enters your train car, and begins asking to see each passenger’s…

by Jon HerrJuly 25, 2017

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Bible and Episcopacy

H. W. Montefiore, one-time vice-principal of Westcott House, Cambridge, and a priest in the church of England, argues that the episcopacy is of the plene esse of the church. Of those who claim it is if the esse , he writes, “if episcopacy were to be essential to the life…

September 20, 2007
Philosophy

Ethical and Religious

Calvin O. Schrag helpfully clarifies what Kierkegaard means by the “teleological suspension of the ethical” ( Ethics , 70, 1959). It’s essential to distinguish between the “ethical” as a mode of existence and the ethical as universal moral requirements. When Kierkegaard uses the category in the former sense, he is…

September 20, 2007
Philosophy

Fear and Trembling

Some notes on Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling . 1. Kierkegaard uses Abraham as the exemplar of the limitations of the Hegelian system. The Hegelians claim to have arrived at the eschatological form of philosophy, encompassing everything, including Christianity, within its scope. Kierkegaard brilliantly discerns that Abraham won’t fit. He’s trying…

September 20, 2007
Philosophy

I Banish You

Kierkegaard’s theatricality, sensitivity, and sense of importance, are evident in his diary entries during 1848-49, when he was under fairly scathing attack from the journal The Corsair . One entry reads: “And even though Denmark were willing to do so, it is very questionable whether Denmark could make good the…

September 20, 2007
Theology

Sketch of Contemporary Theology

This is a partial, prejudiced, personal list of some of things going on in theology today. It’s very much limited by my own knowledge and interests. It is in no particular order. I. Theology: Movements and Trends. A. Political theology 1. Players: William Cavanagh, Oliver O’Donovan. 2. Agenda: Opposition to…

September 19, 2007
Philosophy

Caputo’s oversignt

A friend, Bret Saunders, writes the following in response to my post summarizing Caputo’s account of the “postmodern turns”: “Caputo appears to have omitted the so-called ‘theological turn,’ such as is found in J.-L. Marion and J.-F. Courtine. Of course, this is because Caputo continues to deny that Marion’s work…

September 17, 2007

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