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Writing

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

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Technology

Simulation as Inoculation

Every advent of new media creates the justifiable reaction from some that the necessarily accompanied amputation may not be worth the extension made possible by the new tools. This is not unique to the Digital Age. Lamoignon Malesherbes, the French politician who was counsel for the defense of Louis XVI,…

by Garrett SoucyApril 2, 2024
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Eschatology

Reject Optimism

A response to Gage Crowder's " The Hole in our Hope ?" Already, the first pages of the Bible promise a bright future. The story starts with the creation of heaven and earth, where heaven is perfect, but the earth is in a state of formless emptiness. Yet, God takes…

by Bogumil JarmulakMarch 27, 2024
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Eschatology

The Hole in our Hope? A Rejoinder

A rejoinder to Bubu Jarmulak's essay, " Embrace Pessimism ." Whereas calumnious critiques are reflections of more on the critic than the work criticized, good critiques are always opportunities for reassessment and improvement if they are received as such . Since its renaissance, the biblical doctrine of postmillennialism—or “optimistic eschatology,”…

by Gage CrowderMarch 26, 2024
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Biblical Studies

Jesus Did Not Pray to Avoid the Cross at Gethsemane

Several decades ago, a pastor (and friend) mentioned in passing at one of our regular breakfasts together that he wasn’t satisfied with the usual reading of Jesus’s prayer in Gethsemane, the usual reading being that Jesus asked the Father to avoid the Cross at Gethsemane. We turned to the passage,…

by James R. RogersMarch 19, 2024
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Church Music

Holy Toledo: A Critique of Eclecticism

On May 21, 1604, the cathedral of Toledo in Spain held job interviews for the post of choirmaster, the head of music at the church. The position had been vacated when the previous occupant, Alonso Lobo, was poached by the nearby cathedral of Seville, and Toledo needed a replacement who…

by John AhernMarch 5, 2024
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Covenant

The Docetic Covenant and Phantom Church Membership

Imagine — counterfactually: on the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus held up an empty hand and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant poured out for you. Drink of it.’ But there was no cup, no wine, nothing. If there’s no sign of the covenant, is there…

by John CarpenterFebruary 27, 2024

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Books

Prometheus Bound

Looking at Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound for an article, I came across this statement: Speaking of the senselessness of men before Prometheus gave them sense, he describes men as “seeing, they saw amiss, and hearing heard not.” The similarity to Jesus’ description of His reasons for telling parables is pretty striking,…

September 17, 2003
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Luke

A Man Under Authority (Luke 7)

Why does the centurion in Luke 7 say that he is a man “under” (Greek, hupo ) authority? It seems more reasonable for him to say that he is a man having authority. And what does he mean when he says “I also (Greek, kai ) am a man under…

September 17, 2003
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Politics

Br’er Rabbit

The Weekly Standard has been playing Br’er Rabbit with the Democrats, publishing several hand-wringing articles worrying over threat posed by Howard Dean to the Bush reelection. “Please, Oh, Please, NOT Howard DEAN! ANYBODY, anybody but Howard DEAN!” The entrance of Wesley Clark into the mix changes the dynamics of the…

September 17, 2003
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Theology

Back to Supra/infra

Back to supra/infra: On reflection, I think the main issue in my rethinking of this has been my hostility to any nature-grace scheme, which seems to be encouraged by the infra position. In the infra framework, creation exists (in the decree of God) as creation, without being considered as the…

September 17, 2003
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Luke

“Sinners” in Luke 6

In Jesus’ sermon in Luke 6, he contrasts the behavior of His disciples with that of “sinners” in a series of three points. Sinners love those who love themselves, but Jesus’ disciples must love enemies. Sinners do good only to those who do good to them, but Jesus’ disciples must…

September 17, 2003
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Ecclesiology

More Notes on The Stranger

( Click here to see previous notes.) Here are the rest of the notes from that upcoming lecture: 2. p 2: “Over the past century, however, the center of gravity in the Christian world has shifted inexorably southward, to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Already today, the largest Christian communities…

September 17, 2003

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