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

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Biblical Theology

The Creator in Creation, (Part 2)

This is the second of a three-part study of Genesis 1. 1:3-5 – Light In God’s final actions of the first day, that He addresses the problem of darkness. In evaluating God’s giving of light, we should evaluate the order of events of His creative activity on the first day.…

by Andrew BittnerOctober 15, 2013
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Creation

The Creator in Creation, (Part 1)

“In the beginning God created…” With these words, God begins His self-revelation. We first catch God in the act of creation, and in so doing are ourselves caught up into the dramatic exposition of the Divine Life. To witness the Theo-Drama of the Creator is not an entry into the…

by Andrew BittnerOctober 14, 2013
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Exodus

Boiling Kids

In order for Exodus 23:19b (“you shall not boil a kid in his mother’s milk”) to be interpreted properly it must be situated in its biblical context, which necessitates a proper understanding of Exodus 24:1-11. It is the primary contention of this paper that it is only through the lens…

by Jacob SkogenOctober 9, 2013
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Theopolis News

Constantine Conference

Trinity House President Peter Leithart will deliver a paper on "Constantine the Pious" this week at an international symposium sponsored by the Universitatea Babes-Bolyai in Cluj-Napoca , Romania.

by Peter LeithartOctober 8, 2013
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Isaiah

Branch and Root

Through the prophet Isaiah, Yahweh threatens to send Assyria to Judah and Israel. He will swing Assyria as an ax to lop down the proud trees of Judah (10:33-34). He is going to lop off the branches of the trees, and cut down the tall trees. Trees are people, and…

by Peter LeithartOctober 7, 2013
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Theopolis News

Constantine Conference

Peter Leithart, President of Trinity House, will deliver a lecture a a conference on "Constantine: Religious Faith and Imperial Policy," which will be held October 4-5 at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. The conference is co-sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Center of Hellenic Studies at Richard Stockton and the Orthodox…

by Peter LeithartOctober 4, 2013

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Preparation for justification

The medieval arguments in favor of the notion of preparation for justification through created grace are founded on anthropological and cosmological claims. McGrath summarizes the Summa Fratris Alexandri , which he calls “the first systematic discussion of the nature of created grace,” as follows: “The Holy Spirit can be said…

April 27, 2006

Active and Passive

Here is a hypothesis or suspicion, not a conclusion, much less a conviction: The notion that God rewards what we do with what we have, and the notion that we are purely passive in salvation are not, as they appear, extreme opposites, but are two positions within the same framework.…

April 27, 2006

Hodge and the deliverdict

Charles Hodge doesn’t quite get to justification as deliverdict here, but he comes close: “[Paul] had just said that the believer cannot continue to serve sin. He here [in 6:7] gives the reason: for he who has died (with Christ) is justified, and therefore free from sin, free from its…

April 26, 2006

Aquinas and merit

Strict justice, Aquinas argued, is only possible between equals, and since God and man are not equals there is never strict justice in God’s dealings with us. Further, God being God, He is never put in debt to His creatures, never obligated to give anything, unless by His own prior…

April 26, 2006

Did Christ Merit Salvation?

According to Calvin, only in a qualified sense. McGrath says, “The later Franciscan school, the via moderna and the schola Augustiniana moderna regarded the ratio meriti as lying in the divine good pleasure; nothing was meritorious unless God chose to accept it as such. This teaching was extended to include…

April 26, 2006
Philosophy

Highlights of Marion, Being Given, Books 1-2

I have been greatly helped here by Cynthia Nielsen’s online summaries of Marion’s book. 1) One of Marion’s main ambitions is to move beyond the Western concern with being with its concomitant focus on the “object.” In place of “objectness,” a static notion of the things of the world, Marion…

April 26, 2006

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