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Writing

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

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History

From a Ukrainian Pastor

First, what is going on in Ukraine is not for the European Union or against Russia. It is about the Ukrainian people’s dignity and destiny. They are tired of a corrupt government which acts like a tyrant, robbing and looting from its people, and they hate a judicial system where…

by San SanychFebruary 23, 2014
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Matthew

Babylonian Bookends

"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship…

by Mike BullFebruary 19, 2014
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I Will Kill Her Children

Atheists love to embarrass Christians with a snide reference to the story of Elisha setting two bears upon some helpless children. What nobody, even Christians, seem to get is the “Covenant significance” of all the players in the story, harking back to Moses. The prophets were, after all, God’s “repo…

by Mike BullFebruary 17, 2014
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Books

Preaching as Liturgical Art

Preaching is in trouble. The classic models of the preacher as teacher of doctrine or as herald of the gospel are flawed, and don’t hit home in the postmodern world, which is oriented to images and mystery rather than to linear discourse and rationality. Trygve Johnson suggests an alternative that…

by Peter LeithartFebruary 13, 2014
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Ecclesiology

Nevin's Lament, Nevin's Hope

The following remarks were given to introduce the first annual Nevin Lectures, February 7, 2014. Trinity House was founded in 2012 to promote the reformation of the church by training pastors, future pastors, and lay people in Scripture and liturgical theology. We believe the church exists for the life of…

by Peter LeithartFebruary 10, 2014
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Exodus

Names of the Sanctuary

We can gain basic insights into the nature and function of the tabernacle by considering the biblical terms and phrases used for that structure. Exodus 25:1-9 begins the lengthy instructions for the construction of the tabernacle, and it uses some of the key terms for understanding the theology of the…

by Peter LeithartFebruary 5, 2014

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Ward on Covenant of Works

Early in Ward’s book, he surveys mid sixteenth-century treatments of the effects of Adam’s sin, mainly to determine whether writers of that period conceived of God’s relationship with Adam as a covenantal one. His evidence suggests several important conclusions: 1) The early Protestant confessions do not describe Adam’s relationship to…

June 23, 2004
Theology

Kline on Covenant of Works

In his very useful study, God & Adam: Reformed Theology and the Creation Covenant , Rowland S. Ward has this to say about Meredith Kline’s views on the un-gracious character of the covenant of works: “Contrary to his position in 1968, Kline does not wish now to admit any concept…

June 22, 2004
Theology

More Bad Taste

I should clarify my final, hurried comments on Brown’s discussion of sin and bad taste. I suggested at the end of the last post that Brown’s initial mapping of the problem contributes to an unsatisfying conclusion regarding moral and aesthetic judgment. Brown argues that taste is community-specific, and thus subject…

June 22, 2004
Theology

Sin and Bad Taste

One of the challenges of a Christian aesthetics is sorting through the connections and distinctions between holiness and good taste on the one hand, and sin and bad taste on the other. In his 1989 book, Religious Aesthetics , Frank Burch Brown offers some thoughtful reflections on this question. Here…

June 22, 2004
Theology

Don Richardson and Contextualization

Don Richardson’s Peace Child is a classic of modern mission writing. In that book, Richardson tells of his experience among the Sawi people of New Guinea, and how he used their traditional custom of exchanging a “peace child” between warring tribes to explain the gospel to them. In his 1981…

June 22, 2004

True and False Arks

When the men of Babel organize to build a tower reaching to heaven, they decide to use “tar for mortar” (Gen 11:3; NASB). The Hebrew phrase repeats two different forms of the same root word (CHMR): The word for “tar” is CHEMAR and the word for “mortar” is CHOMER. They…

June 22, 2004

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