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Writing

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

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American Politics

“Not our President”?

I think I want to respectfully disagree with Doug Wilson here . I understand him to be saying that if a candidate for elective office won that office through election fraud, that he would not really hold that office even if he was installed. I don’t have any comment to…

by Mark HorneDecember 2, 2020
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Advent

Peace on Earth

When I was a young girl, each Christmas my grandmother would send us a sweet little ornament to hang on the tree. I still have many of those ornaments decorating my home. For a few years in a row, she selected ornaments with people from around the globe smiling or…

by Lindsey TollefsonDecember 1, 2020
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Manhood

The Paradox of Masculinity

I am a man. I came from a man. I have been around many men. I read books about men. Occasionally I have the opportunity to directly disciple men. And now that I have a son I have the great responsibility of teaching him to be a man. One may…

by Brian G DaigleNovember 24, 2020
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Architecture

Bodies and Architecture

It seems at least sane to believe that past societies experienced upheaval and disarray quite like what we are experiencing today. Perhaps we are witnessing something altogether new or greater in degree than what peoples witnessed in the past, but it doesn’t seem likely. History is filled with fissures and…

by Joe McCulleyNovember 17, 2020
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Feast

The Church Potluck and the Biopolitical

“But for those of us to whom urban life is necessary and who cannot forego eating men, it is to our advantage to frequent the countries where one finds the most of them.” -Rousseau At All Saints Anglican in Honolulu, where I serve as rector, it has been our practice…

by Mark BriansNovember 10, 2020
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Biblical Studies

The Heel of Joshua

The Scriptures are replete with stories of deception. And often, strangely, it is those who we regard as righteous who are doing the deceiving. And, even more strangely, their deception is often rewarded, or even praised. Consider Jacob, Tamar, the Egyptian midwives, Rahab, to name just a few. Frustratingly for…

by Rhys LavertyNovember 3, 2020

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Adam’s faith

What should Adam have done when the serpent started talking to Eve? What would you do? You’d scream, probably. But then you’d pray, hard. Because you’d know that only God can deliver you from a dragon. We sometimes think that Adam should have stepped up and handled the serpent bare-handed.…

April 27, 2007

Irenaeus on the covenant of works

Horton cites Irenaeus as an early theologian who anticipated the federal theologians by distinguishing between “the ‘covenant of law’ and the ‘covenant of grace.’” In a footnote, he claims that “Irenaeus even distinguishes between ‘an economy of law/works’ and a ‘Gospel covenant,’” citing Against Hereies 4.25. I don’t find the…

April 25, 2007

Natural capacity

In his recent book on the covenant, Michael Horton says that under the covenant of works Adam was “a righteous and holy human servant entirely capable of fulfilling the stipulations of God’s law.” If this is taken in the sense that Adam had no sinful inclinations, and was posse non…

April 25, 2007
History

Exploratory and standard theology

In a thoughtful review of Fergus Kerr’s recent book on Twentieth-century Catholic theology ( First Things , May), Rusty Reno discusses the distinction between exploratory and standard theology. The “Heroic Generation” prior to Vatican II (Congar, de Lubac, Rahner, Lonergan, and others) did theology in a creative, exploratory mode, severely…

April 25, 2007

Faith and Grace

Faith is often characterized as a “receptive” and “responsive” disposition, or as “passive.” Even if we accept standard definitions of faith, that characterization seems to overlook the variety of ways in which grace and faith can be related. There appear to be at least three. For clarity, in the following…

April 25, 2007

Jesus as Israel

If you click on “Downloads” above you’ll be able to find a longish, but rather unpolished and work-in-progressive paper on the typological structure of Matthew. Thanks to Ralph and Emeth Smith for pdf-ing it for me and uploading it to this site.

April 25, 2007

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