Theopolis Logo

Writing

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

See all
evangelists
Matthew

Dating Matthew, (Part 1)

When might the Gospel according to Matthew have been written? Of course, any answer can only be speculation, but that does not mean we are reduced to groundless opinion. In this series of articles I point the way to an approach different from the general consensus among scholars today which…

by Ralph Allan SmithNovember 22, 2016
hebrew-manuscript-3
Hermeneutics

Synopticity, (Part 2)

In my first essay on “synopticity” I offered a rather rough definition of the phenomenon and important, though not exhaustive examples. In this essay, I want to introduce broader aspects of the phenomenon of “synopticity.” The first example that I have in mind is conventional stories, stories of different historical…

by Ralph Allan SmithNovember 17, 2016
screen-shot-2016-03-31-at-9-32-11-am
Ascension

Brexit and the Binding of Satan, Part 4

Since the judgment of Babel was followed by the initiation of the circumcision, the impending end of the circumcision in AD70 explains the significance of the first century miracle of foreign tongues. Except for a few Aramaic “teasers” in the book of Daniel, the Word of God was monolingual and…

by Mike BullNovember 15, 2016
four-evangelists
Hermeneutics

Synopticity, (Part 1)

To the best of my knowledge “synopticity” is not a word used in theology or Biblical studies, but it seems an appropriate word to describe the kind of phenomena associated with the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These three Gospels tell essentially the same story with significant — sometimes…

by Ralph Allan SmithNovember 10, 2016
laughing_statue_by_xxbobbiie-d5f0meh-2
Humor

Learning to Laugh

Humor is a funny thing. It is altogether familiar yet also mysterious. What makes us laugh? Why do we find things funny? There are academic fields of study dedicated to discovering what makes things humorous. These academicians even have a journal entitled International Journal of Humor Research . No joke.…

by Bill SmithNovember 8, 2016
chaucer
Literature

Flawed Means of Grace: Liturgy in The Pardoner's Tale

Out of all the characters in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales , the Pardoner has been called the “one lost soul.” The pious Parson, who closes out the collection of tales with a sermon on the seven deadly sins and how a sinner can absolve himself of them, connects the…

by Christian LeithartNovember 3, 2016

Showing page 122 of 309

See all
See all
History

Enlightenment

Peter Hanns Reill, ed., and Ellen Judy Wilson, principal author, Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment (revised edition; New York: Facts on File, 2004), 670pp. Contemporary critics of modernity, including Christian ones, often focus their attacks on ?The Enlightenment,?Ethe intellectual and cultural movement that endured through the ?long eighteenth century?Ebetween Louis XIV…

January 13, 2005

The Outlaw Sea

William Langewiesche, The Outlaw Sea: A World of Freedom, Chaos, and Crime (New York: North Point Press, 2004), 239pp. Landlubbers that we are, most tend to forget that, as William Langewiesche puts it, “our world is an ocean world.” First published as a series of articles in The Atlantic ,…

January 13, 2005
Literature

Garber on Comedy of Errors

Marjorie Garber offers many interesting insights into the themes of Shakespeare?s Comedy of Errors in her recent Shakespeare After All . Here are several of the highlights of her analysis: 1) She points out that, like many of Shakespeare?s comedies, the crisis of Comedy of Errors is provoked by ?an…

January 12, 2005

Sermon Outline, January 16

INTRODUCTION When the prophet Shemaiah confronted Rehoboam, the king turned from his plan (1 Kings 12:21-24). But Jeroboam is not so responsive to the word of the Lord. A man of God from Judah confronts him at his altar at Bethel (13:1-3), and Jeroboam responds by trying to arrest the…

January 12, 2005
Politics

Political Theology

Richard Neuhaus has his gleeful fun attacking John Milbank in the November 2004 issue of First Things . I don’t think he’s entirely fair to Milbank’s political thought, and his charge that Milbank’s attack on the Catholic Church is an “annoyingly unremitting rant” that is “mainly a product of deep-seated…

January 12, 2005

Creator and Reconciler

Barth interestingly ( CD 1.1, p. 410) suggests a correspondence between soteriology and Trinitarian theology: “reconciliation or revelation is not creation or a continuation of creation but rather an inconceivably new work above and beyond creation, so we have also to say that the Son is not the Father but…

January 11, 2005

Showing page 2019 of 2212

Browse by Category

In Medias Res

Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.

Donate

Theopolis is nearly 100% donor-supported. Consider joining us on our mission.