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Biblical Studies

Biblical Allusion and the Meaning of Othello

Understanding Shakespeare’s Biblical references is vital for the interpretation of many, if not all, of Shakespeare’s plays. For Othello , it is especially important, not only because the interpretation of the play is contested among various approaches — feminist, homosexual, post-colonial, Marxist, Freudian, new historical, and others — but also…

by Ralph Allan SmithJune 16, 2017
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Ecclesiology

Attaining Unity: A Reply to Mike Allen

Mike Allen of Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, scores some points in his review of The End of Protestantism . He lodges the fair complaint that my rhetoric sometimes outruns my evidence. He argues that more stress on the present reality of the church’s unity deepens the tragedy of division; divisions…

by Peter LeithartJune 13, 2017
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Eschatology

Comic Trinity

I begin with two observations. First, on any millennial view, the Christian account of history is progressive, moving from the garden to the city. It is eschatological not only in that there is an end, but that the end is a glorified beginning, not merely a return to origins. To…

by Peter LeithartJune 8, 2017
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Ecclesiology

Political Church

The church is a new form of polity that erupts into the world as much as the Son of God comes into the world. It’s a real-world political alternative to the polities of the ancient world. It resolves many of the political dilemmas of the ancient world, though not simply…

by Peter LeithartJune 6, 2017
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Baptism

Baptism Impasse: Baptists vs. Presbyterians, (Part 2)

In my last post , I explained how Baptists really have a “one-ordinance-one sacrament” ecclesiology. I said this: “what Baptists really believe, in modern parlance, is that there is one ordinance (baptism which is a sign or symbol only) and one sacrament (the Lord’s Supper in which feeding upon Jesus…

by Mani MarprelateMay 30, 2017
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Political Theology

Obedience of Rulers

One of the most extensive and penetrating responses to the Yoder-Hauerwas attack on Constantiniansm is found in Oliver O’Donovan’s Desire of Nations , in a chapter entitled “The Obedience of Rulers.” O’Donovan defines the word “Christendom” as “a historical idea,” specifically “the idea of a professedly Christian secular political order,…

by Peter LeithartMay 30, 2017

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Baptismal meditation, September 25

Galatians 3:26-29: For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man; there is neither male nor female; for you are…

September 25, 2005

Exhortation, September 25

The sermon today is about marriage and family, but I don’t want the unmarried men and women here to hit the mute button. The sermon text may not apply directly to you, but you should be preparing now for the roles that you are likely to assume in the future.…

September 25, 2005

Communion meditation, September 25

1 Corinthians 6:15-17: Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a harlot is one…

September 25, 2005

Exodus in Kings

Amos Frisch has a very good article in the JSOT (2000) where he examines the allusions to the Exodus in 1 Kings 1-14. There are many excellent and fruitful insights here: 1) Hadad the Edomite lives through an exodus story, and is a kind of Moses figure (1 Kings 11).…

September 25, 2005

Shimei’s slaves

I don’t believe in the existence of a “Succession Narrative” (2 Sam 9-1 Kings 2), but James Ackerman, who does believe in a succession narrative, makes this interesting connection between Shimei’s execution and the earlier history of David (which does not depend on belief in a succession narrative): “two of…

September 25, 2005

Shimei’s slaves

I don’t believe in the existence of a “Succession Narrative” (2 Sam 9-1 Kings 2), but James Ackerman, who does believe in a succession narrative, makes this interesting connection between Shimei’s execution and the earlier history of David (which does not depend on belief in a succession narrative): “two of…

September 25, 2005

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