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Writing

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

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Astral imagery

The Lady and Her Jewels: An Epiphany Meditation

And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery (Revelation 12:1-2). Then Joshua spoke…

by Richard BledsoeJanuary 6, 2015
extreme-unction
Anointing

Fattening Our Suffering

In his post asking Ought we Anoint the Dying? Peter Leithart makes an excellent and important point about our suffering as members of Christ. However, he only parenthetically mentions that the verb in question in James 5 is not chrio but aleipho . By assuming that these words are interchangeable,…

by Robert MaddoxDecember 30, 2014
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James

Death as Frenemy

We spend a lot of time in the church talking about what it means to live like a Christian. But what does it mean to die like a Christian? If we are to follow Christ in life, what does it mean for us to follow him in death as well?…

by Rich LuskDecember 23, 2014
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Literature

Was Shakespeare A Christian?

How would one go about answering the question posed by my title? That depends on what the question means. Obviously, different definitions of the question would require different approaches to an answer. Right off hand, I can think of at least three possible — though not necessarily mutually exclusive —…

by Ralph Allan SmithDecember 23, 2014
day-2-ferguson-protests-nationwide
American Culture

Phobophobia

In recent weeks and months, we have seen events that are not the event. The drama around these events is not the events themselves, but the anxiety about the events, and then even the anxiety about the anxiety about the events. That is the real event. The events in Ferguson,…

by Richard BledsoeDecember 22, 2014
anointing-david
Anointing

Ought We Anoint the Dying?

Anointing the sick, including the dying, is one of the traditional seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. The Reformers denied that the rite qualified as a sacrament. Formally, this was because anointing did not have a direct authorization from Jesus; more theologically, it was not one of the marks that…

by Peter LeithartDecember 18, 2014

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Brother strangers

In his third epistle, John commends Gaius for his hospitality to “brothers,” particularly for his hospitality to brothers who are “strangers.” This simple commendation marks a social revolution in ancient history. The revolution is not John’s commendation of hospitality per se. Many ancients commended philoxenia, hospitable love of strangers. The…

February 22, 2007
History

Language decline?

Electronic communication is supposed to be destroying our ability to use normal language, as we resort to various forms of shorthand - BTW, FWIW, LOL, ROFLOL, etc, etc. Well maybe. But if it’s a sign of linguistic decline, it’s not the first time. FF Bruce points out that certain greetings…

February 22, 2007

Sacramental piety

Some believe that an emphasis on sacraments must produce an externalized, mechanical form of the Christian life. That is no doubt partly the fault of high-church Christians who have permitted their participation to become externalized and mechanical. It’s incumbent upon high-church Christians to demonstrate that sacramental piety is indeed piety.…

February 21, 2007
History

Interim America

“Interim America” is Rosenstock-Huessy’s name for the American order during the period between 1890-1940. This is an “interim” because it is not a stable order, but a transition between the old and the new. This interim period is ordered by the suburb, the factory, the highway, and the loss of…

February 21, 2007
Theology

Who Defines “Reformed”?

In a couple of posts over the last several weeks, I’ve tried to analyze the “Federal Vision” from a variety of angles - as an “identity crisis” provoked by the FV tendency to reach outside the Reformed tradition for inspiration, and as a conflict not so much of doctrinal systems…

February 21, 2007
Theology

Who Defines “Reformed”?

In a couple of posts over the last several weeks, I’ve tried to analyze the “Federal Vision” from a variety of angles - as an “identity crisis” provoked by the FV tendency to reach outside the Reformed tradition for inspiration, and as a conflict not so much of doctrinal systems…

February 21, 2007

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