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Writing

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

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Catholicism

Outgrowing Protestant Adolescence

The Protestant-Catholic relationship has hardly been an untroubled one. And yet, the possibilities for various layers of reconciliation are better then at any time since the original schism 500 years ago. One of the symbols for the church that is used in Scripture is the church as a household (Ephesians…

by Richard BledsoeMay 5, 2014
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Leviticus

Two Shall Become One Flesh, (Part 3): Realizing Recovering

Despite the layers of wiping, covering, and ransoming during the Day of Recoverings, true unity still has not been achieved. Divorce is still possible; God still might leave his people. Thus the Day of Recoverings must be repeated every year. The perpetual expression of unity between God and man in…

by Ryan HandermannApril 30, 2014
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Leviticus

Two Shall Become One Flesh, (Part 2): The Day of Recoverings

The events of Leviticus 16 are commonly known as “The Day of Atonement,” from the Hebrew phrase yom hakippurim, in Leviticus 23:27. However, it would be more accurate to say, “The Day of Atonements,” [i] since the word is plural. The plurality primarily relates to 16:33, which states five different…

by Ryan HandermannApril 29, 2014
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Leviticus

Two Shall Become One Flesh, I: Atonement and Eschatology

Mary Douglas, against the common notion that primitive religious rituals were illogical and random asserts, “The analysis of ritual symbolism cannot begin until we recognize ritual as an attempt to create and maintain a particular culture … Any culture is a series of structures which comprise social forms, values, cosmology,…

by Ryan HandermannApril 23, 2014
Revelation

Seven Spirits, Seven Sisters

​Jesus holds seven stars. They are the angels of the seven churches (Revelation 1:20). For ancient readers and hearers, "seven stars" would evoke a number of associations - the seven planets, the seven stars of Ursa Major, and the seven stars that make up the Pleiades. The last makes a…

by Peter LeithartApril 21, 2014
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Biblical Theology

Jacob and the Stone

When he first arrives in Harran, at Paddan-Aram, the home of Laban his uncle, Jacob sees a well. Wells are mentioned frequently in Genesis. Twice Hagar finds a well in the wilderness (Genesis 16:14; 21:19). Philistines seize Abraham’s well (21:22-34), and Abraham’s chief servant finds a wife for Isaac at…

by Peter LeithartApril 16, 2014

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Sermon notes

INTRODUCTION Jesus is the “son of David” (Matthew 1:1), and therefore “King of the Jews” (2:2). Inevitably, His advent provokes fear and rage from other pretenders to the throne, like Herod. THE TEXT “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold,…

May 14, 2007
Uncategorized

Democratized celebrity?

With YouTube, American Idol , blogs, and a host of other new outlets for “talent,” it appears that celebrity is being democratized. Appearances are deceiving, according to a new book by Jake Halpern, Fame Junkies . Halpern points out that, though American Idol and similar shows make new celebrities, old…

May 13, 2007

Eucharistic meditation

John 16:7: I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. We’ve seen in the sermon that the ascension means that…

May 13, 2007

Exhortation, Sunday before Ascension

Revelation 12 is a symbolic vision of Jesus’ ascension, which we celebrate this Thursday, the fortieth day after Easter. In that vision, John sees a woman clothed with the sun and wearing a crown of stars, who gives birth to a child. At that same moment, a dragon appears and…

May 13, 2007

Wilson debate

Doug Wilson is carrying on a debate with polymath and militant atheist Christopher Hitchens at the Christianity Today web site, here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/mayweb-only/119-12.0.html

May 13, 2007
Literature

The meaning of “Literature”

Michael Hattaway writes, in an introduction to Early Modern English literature (Blackwell, 2005), “A primary difference between Renaissance and modern concepts of writing involves meanings for ‘literature’ and for ‘fiction.’ As surviving library catalogues reveal, contemporaries of Donne and Shakespeare did not recognize the groupings that determine the display of…

May 12, 2007

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