Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Flying scrolls. Red horses. Beasts coming out of the sea. Winged women. The list goes on. Apocalyptic literature in the Bible is like a cross between science fiction and Marvel comics. And the Bible has a fair bit of this sort of thing. Daniel sees visions in Babylon, Zechariah sees…
Trinity House Institute has taken a new name, the Theopolis Institute. This striking new name expresses our unique vision and mission and captures the unified purpose behind all our specific programs and activities. We still have Bible, liturgy, and culture in our tagline. We still offer the same courses on…
Adam Kotsko offers a socio-political variation on the Christus Victor atonement theory in his 2010 study, The Politics of Redemption: The Social Logic of Salvation . He does this by explaining "the devil" in terms of the Hegelian concept of "objective spirit," Geist . As Kotsko puts it, Geist "refers…
Two factors keep Nahtali Meshel from discussing the meaning of sacrifice until late in his The "Grammar" of Sacrifice . The first has to do with the texts he draws from: "P says little about the meaning of its rituals" (174). The other has to do with the grammatical theory…
Chapter 5 of Naphtali Meshel's The "Grammar" of Sacrifice focuses on "praxemics," the physical actions of sacrificial ritual. Praxemes are constituted by six elements: an "atomact," an elementary physical act or gesture; an actor; an object that is acted up; a target for the action and often for the object…
Two chapters of Naphtali Meshel’s The “Grammar” of Sacrifice cover what he calls “jugation” and “hierarchies.” The first involves the addition of other materials to an animal offering. Jugates include wine, cereal, and oil that are added to the animals (zoemes) that are offered in sacrifice. Some jugates are coordinated…
Showing page 167 of 309
Showing page 1 of 43
J ohn 8:1-11 is a difficult, controversial passage in all sorts of ways. There are strong text-critical arguments for claiming it's not part of the original text of John. It would be a convenient absence, because if it's genuine, the passage raises all sorts of puzzles. The Pharisees who bring…
F ollowing Varro, Augustine distinguished three forms of ancient religion: The fabulous religion of the myths, the sophisticated religion of philosophers, and the public religion of the polis. These three categories of ancient religion are evident in Luke’s account of the early church’s missionary encounters. In Philippi (Acts 16) and…
C hrist is strictly catholic,” writes Herman Hoeksema ( Reformed Dogmatics , 608). He is “rich unto all that call upon him,” whether Jew or gentile. Christ is the “Lord, rich with salvation for all the nations of the earth.” He is not merely the universal Lord of humanity, but…
T .H. Breen reviews recent books on Ben Franklin at the TLS . Along the way, he summarizes the argument of Carla Mulford's Benjamin Franklin and the Ends of Empire : “Franklin developed a coherent theory of colonial sovereignty well before the final revolutionary crisis. . . . Franklin concluded…
P aul delivered a sermon in Athens (Acts 17). It's addressed to philosophers and pagan priests. It also expresses a theological vision. What is the theology of the Mars Hill sermon? God . Christianity is a message about God. He is the maker of the world, not merely the world…
A t the beginning of his account of The Origins of Criticism , Andrew Ford offers an initial definition of criticism: “To begin this study, criticism will be any public act of praise or blame upon a performance of song.” That definition brings out several features of early criticism. First,…
Showing page 281 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
